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MORNING BY MORNING; 



§»ity fUatUwp 



THE FAMILY OR THE CLOSET. 



BY 

CrW. SPUEGEON. 



HE WAKETH MORNING BY MORNING. HE WAKENETII MINE 
EAR TO HEAR AS THE LEARNED. 

Isaiah 1. 4. 



NEW YOKE: 

SHELDON AND COMPANY, 

498 and 500 Broadway. 

• 1866. 



;5 



x$ 



-2.73 



"WORKS 



OF THE 



REV. C. H. SPUEGEOK 



SERMONS. Eight Series. Revised by the 

Author. Each 1.50 

SAINT AND SAVIOUR. . . .1.50 

SPURGE ON S GEAIS. . . . . 1.50 

MORNING BY MORNING, or Daily 

Readings. . . . . . .1.75 



Stereotyped at the Boston Stereotype Foundry, 
No. 4 Spring Lane. 



Jan. 1. DAILY HEADINGS. 




Tliey did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year." 
Joshua v. 11. 

ISRAEL'S weary wanderings were all over, and the 
promised rest was attained. No more moving tents, 
fiery serpents, fierce Amalekites, and howling wil- 
dernesses, they came to the land which flowed with milk and 
honey, and they ate the old corn of the land. Perhaps this 
year, beloved Christian reader, this may be thy case or mine. 
Joyful is the prospect, and if faith be in active exercise, it 
will yield unalloyed delight. To be with Jesus in the rest 
which remaineth for the people of God, is a cheering hope 
indeed, and to expect this glory so soon is a double bliss. 
Unbelief shudders at the Jordan which still rolls between us 
and the goodly land, but let us rest assured that we have 
already experienced more ills than death at its worst can 
cause us. Let us banish every fearful thought, and rejoice 
with exceeding great joy, in the prospect that this year we 
shall begin to be " forever with the Lord." 

A part of the host will this year tarry on earth, to do 
service for their Lord. If this should fall to our lot, there 
is no reason why the New Year's text should not still be true. 
** We who have believed do enter into rest." The Holy 
Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance. He gives us " glory 
begun below." In heaven they are secure, and so are we 
preserved in Christ Jesus ; there they triumph over their 
enemies, and we have victories too. Celestial spirits enjoy 
communion with their Lord, and this is not denied to us ; 
they rest in His love, and we have perfect peace in Him ; 
they hymn His praise, and it is our privilege to bless Him 
too. We will this year gather celestial fruits on earthly 
ground, where faith and hope have made the desert like the 
garden of the Lord. Man did eat angels' food of old, and 
why not now ? O for grace to feed on Jesus, and so to eat 
of the fruit of the land of Canaan this year. 

1 



DAILY HEADINGS. Jail. 2. 



Continue in prayer" — Colossians iv. 2. 




5T is interesting to remark how large a portion of 
Sacred Writ is occupied with the subject of prayer, 
either in furnishing examples, enforcing precepts, or 
pronouncing promises. We scarcely open the Bible before 
we read, " Then began men to call upon the name of the 
Lord ; " and just as we are about to close the volume, the 
"Amen " of an earnest supplication meets our ear. Instances 
are plentiful. Here we find a wrestling Jacob — there a 
Daniel who prayed three times a day — and a David who with 
all his heart called upon his Grod. On the mountain we 
see Elias ; in the dungeon Paul and Silas. We have multi- 
tudes of commands, and myriads of promises. What does 
this teach us, but the sacred importance and necessity of 
prayer ? We may be certain that whatever Grod has made 
prominent in His Word, He intended to be conspicuous in our 
lives. If He has said much about prayer, it is because He 
knows we have much need of it. So deep are our necessities, 
that until we are in heaven we must not cease to pray. 
Dost thou want nothing ? Then, I fear thou dost not know 
thy poverty. Hast thou no mercy to ask of Grod ? Then, 
may the Lord's mercy show thee thy misery ! A prayerless 
soul is a Christless soul. Prayer is the lisping of the believ- 
ing infant, the shout of the fighting believer, the requiem of 
the dying saint falling asleep in Jesus. It is the breath, the 
watchword, the comfort, the strength, the honor of a Chris- 
tian. If thou be a child of Grod, thou wilt seek thy Father's 
face, and live in thy Father's love. Pray that this year thou 
mayest be holy, humble, zealous, and patient ; have closer 
communion with Christ, and enter oftener into the banquet- 
ing-house of His love. Pray that thou mayest be an example 
and a blessing unto others, and that thou mayest live more to 
the glory of thy Master. The motto for this year must be, 
" Continue in prayer." 




Jan. 3. DAILY READINGS. 3 

" I will give thee for a covenant of the people." — Isaiah xlix. 8. 

1SUS Christ is Himself the sum and substance of the 
covenant, and as one of its gifts He is the property 
of every believer. Believer, canst thou estimate 
what thou hast gotten in Christ ? " In Him dwelleth all the 
fulness of the Godhead bodily." Consider that word " God " 
and its infinity, and then meditate upon " perfect man " and all 
his beauty ; for all that Christ, as God and man, ever had, or 
can have, is thine — out of pure free favor, passed over to thee 
to be thine entailed property forever. Our blessed Jesus, 
as God, is omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent. Will it not 
console you to know that all these great and glorious attributes 
are altogether yours ? Has He power ? That power is yours 
to support and strengthen you, to overcome your enemies, 
and to preserve you even to the end. Has He love ? Well, 
there is not a drop of love in His heart which is not yours. 
You may dive into the immense ocean of His love, and you 
may say of it all, " It is mine." Hath He justice ? It may 
seem a stern attribute, but even that is yours ; for He will, 
by His justice, see to it, that all which is promised to you in 
the covenant of grace, shall be most certainly secured to you. 
And all that He has as "perfect man is yours. As a perfect 
man the Father's delight was upon Him. He stood accepted 
by the Most High. believer, God's acceptance of Christ 
is thine acceptance ; for knowest thou not that the love which 
the Father set on a perfect Christ, He sets on thee noiv ? For 
all that Christ did is thine. That perfect righteousness which 
Jesus wrought out, when through His stainless life He kept 
the law and made it honorable, is thine, and is imputed to 
thee. Christ is in the covenant. 

" My God, I am thine — what a comfort divine ! 
What a blessing to know that the Saviour is mine ! 
In the heavenly Lamb thrice happy I am, 
And my heart it doth dance at the sound of his name." 



DALLY HEADINGS. Jan. 4. 




" Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour 
Jesus Christ:' — 2 Peter iii. 18. 

jROW in grace — not in one grace only, but in all 
grace. Grow in that root-grace, faith. Believe the 
promises more firmly than you have done. Let faith 
increase in fulness, constancy, simplicity. Grow also in love. 
Ask that your love may become extended, more intense, more 
practical, influencing every thought, word, and deed. Grow 
likewise in humility. Seek to lie very low, and know more 
of your own nothingness. As you grow downward in humil- 
ity, seek also to grow upward — having nearer approaches to 
God in prayer and more intimate fellowship with Jesus. May 
God the Holy Spirit enable you to " grow in the knowledge of 
our Lord and Saviour." He who grows not in the knowledge 
of Jesus, refuses to be blessed. To know Him is " life 
eternal," and to advance in the knowledge of Him is to 
increase in happiness. He who does not long to know more 
of Christ, knows nothing of Him yet. Whoever hath sipped 
this wine will thirst for more, for although Christ doth satisfy, 
yet it is such a satisfaction, that the appetite is not cloyed, 
but whetted. If you know the love of Jesus — as the hart 
panteth for the water-brooks, so will you pant after deeper 
draughts of His love. If you do not desire to know Him 
better, then you love Him not, for love always cries, " Nearer, 
nearer." Absence from Christ is hell ; but the presence cf 
Jesus is heaven. Rest not then content without an increas- 
ing acquaintance with Jesus. Seek to know more of Him in 
His divine nature, in His human relationship, in His finished 
work, in His death, in His resurrection, in His present glorious 
intercession, and in His future royal advent. Abide hard by 
the Cross, and search the mystery of His wounds. An in- 
crease of love to Jesus, and a more perfect apprehension of 
His love to us, is one of the best tests of growth in grace. 



Jail. 5. DAILY HEADINGS. 




"And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the 
light from the darkness" — Genesis i. 4. 

'IGrHT might well be good, since it sprang from that 
fiat of goodness, "Let there be light." We who 
enjoy it, should be more grateful for it than we are, 
and see more of God in it and by it. Light physical is said 
by Solomon to be sweet, but gospel light is infinitely more 
precious, for it reveals eternal things, and ministers to our 
immortal natures. When the Holy Spirit gives us spiritual 
light, and opens our eyes to behold the glory of God in the 
face of Jesus Christ, we behold sin in its true colors, and 
ourselves in our real position ; we see the Most Holy God 
as He reveals Himself, the plan of mercy as He propounds 
it, and the world to come as the Word describes it. Spiritual 
light has many beams and prismatic colors, but whether they 
be knowledge, joy, holiness, or life, all are divinely good. If 
the light received be thus good, what must the essential light 
be, and how glorious must be the place where He reveals 
Himself ! Lord, since light is so good, give us more of 
it, and more of Thyself, the true light. 

No sooner is there a good thing in the world, than a division 
is necessary. Light and darkness have no communion ; God 
has divided them, let us not confound them. Sons of light 
must not have fellowship with deeds, doctrines, or deceits of 
darkness. The children of the day must be sober, honest, 
and bold in their Lord's work, leaving the works of darkness 
to those who shall dwell in it forever. Our churches should 
by discipline divide the light from the darkness, and we should 
by our distinct separation from the world do the same. In 
judgment, in action, in hearing, in teaching, in association, 
we must discern between the precious and the vile, and 
maintain the great distinction which the Lord made upon the 
world's first day. Lord Jesus, be Thou our light through- 
out the whole of this day, for Thy light is the light of men. 
1* 



DAILY HEADINGS. Jan. 6. 




Casting all your care upon Him ; for He careth for you" 
1 Peter v. 7. 

]T is a happy way of soothing sorrow when we can feel 
— " HE careth for me." Christian ! do not dishonor 
your religion by always wearing a brow of care ; 
come, cast your burden upon your Lord. You are staggering 
beneath a weight which your Father would not feel. What 
seems to you a crushing burden, would be to Him but as the 
small dust of the balance. Nothing is so sweet as to 

" Lie passive in God's hands, 
And know no will but His." 

child of suffering, be thou patient ; Grod has not passed 
thee over in His providence. He who is the feeder of 
sparrows, will also furnish you with what you need. Sit not 
down in despair ; hope on, hope ever. Take up the arms of 
faith against a sea of trouble, and your opposition shall yet 
end your distresses. There is One who careth for you. His 
eye is fixed on you, His heart beats with pity for your woe, 
and His hand omnipotent shall yet bring you the needed 
help. The darkest cloud shall scatter itself in showers of 
mercy. The blackest gloom shall give place to the morning. 
He, if thou art one of His family, will bind up thy wounds, 
and heal thy broken heart. Doubt not His grace because of 
thy tribulation, but believe that He loveth thee as much in 
seasons of trouble as in times of happiness. What a serene 
and quiet life might you lead if you would leave providing 
to the Grod of Providence ! With a little oil in the cruse, and 
a handful of meal in the barrel, Elijah outlived the famine, 
and you will do the same. If Grod cares for you, why need 
you care too ? Can you trust Him for your soul, and not for 
your body ? He has never refused to bear your burdens, He 
has never fainted under their weight. Come, then, soul ! 
have done with fretful care, and leave all thy concerns in the 
hand of a gracious Grod. 



Jan. 7. DAILY READINGS. 




"For me to live is Christ." — Philippians i. 21. 

I^^HE believer did not always live to Christ ; he began 
to do so when Grod the Holy Spirit convinced him of 
sin, and when by grace he was brought to see the 
dying Saviour making a propitiation for his guilt. From the 
moment of the new and celestial birth the man begins to live 
to Christ. Jesus is to believers the one pearl of great price, 
for whom we are willing to part with all that we have. He 
has so completely won our love, that it beats alone for 
Him ; to His glory we would live, and in defence of His 
gospel we would die ; He is the pattern of our life, and the 
model after which we would sculpture our character. Paul's 
words mean more than most men think ; they imply that the 
aim and end of his life was Christ — nay, his life itself was 
Jesus. In the words of an ancient saint, he did eat, and 
drink, and sleep eternal life. Jesus was his very breath, the 
soul of his soul, the heart of his heart, the life of his life. 
Can you say, as a professing Christian, that you live up to this 
idea ? Can you honestly say that for you to live is Christ ? 
Your business — are you doing it for Christ ? Is it not done 
for self-aggrandizement and for family advantage ? Do you 
ask, " Is that a mean reason ? " For the Christian it is. He 
professes to live for Christ ; how can he live for another object 
without committing a spiritual adultery ? Many there are 
who carry out this principle in some measure ; but who is 
there that dare say that he hath lived wholly for Christ as the 
apostle did ? Yet, this alone is the true life of a Christian 
— its source, its sustenance, its fashion, its end, all gathered 
up in one word — Christ Jesus. Lord, accept me; I here 
present myself, praying to live only in Thee and to Thee. 
Let me be as the bullock which stands between the plough 
and the altar, to work or to be sacrificed ; and let my motto 
be, " Ready for either." 



DAILY READINGS. Jan. 8. 




The iniquity of the holy things" — Exodus xxviii. 38. 

ISjHAT a veil is lifted up by these words, and what a 
disclosure is made ! It will be humbling and profitable 
for us to pause awhile and see this sad sight. The 
iniquities of our public worship, its hypocrisy, formality, 
lukewarmness, irreverence, wandering of heart and forget- 
fulness of God, what a full measure have we there ! Our 
work for the Lord, its emulation, selfishness, carelessness, 
slackness, unbelief, what a mass of defilement is there ! Our 
private devotions, their laxity, coldness, neglect, sleepiness, 
and vanity, what a mountain of dead earth is there ! If we 
looked more carefully we should find this iniquity to be far 
greater than appears at first sight. Dr. Payson, writing to 
his brother, says, " My parish, as well as my heart, very 
much resembles the garden of the sluggard ; and what is 
worse, I find that very many of my desires for the melioration 
of both, proceed either from pride, or vanity, or indolence. 
I look at the weeds which overspread my garden, and breathe 
out an earnest wish that they were eradicated. But why ? 
What prompts the wish ? It may be that I may walk out and 
say to myself, ' In what fine order is my garden kept ! ' This 
is pride. Or it may be that my neighbors may look over 
the wall and say, 4 How finely your garden flourishes ! ' This 
is vanity. Or I may wish for the destruction of the weeds, 
because I am weary of pulling them up. This is indolence." 
So that even our desires after holiness may be polluted by 
ill motives. Under the greenest sods worms hide themselves ; 
we need not look long to discover them. How cheering is 
the thought, that, when the High Priest bore the iniquity of 
the holy things, he wore upon his brow the words, Holiness 
to the Lord ; and even so while Jesus bears our sin, He 
presents before His Father's face not our unholiness, but His 
own holiness. for grace to view our great High Priest by 
the eye of faith ! 



Jan. 9. DAILY HEADINGS. 




" I will be their God." — Jeremiah xxxi. 33. 

CHRISTIAN ! here is all thou canst require. To make 
thee happy thou wantest something that shall satisfy 
thee ; and is not this enough ■? If thou canst pour 
this promise into thy cup, wilt thou not say, with David, 
" My cup runneth over ; I have more than heart can wish " ? 
When this is fulfilled, " I am thy God," art thou not possessor 
of all things ? Desire is insatiable as death, but He who fill- 
eth all in all can fill it. The capacity of our wishes who can 
measure ? but the immeasurable wealth of God can more than 
overflow it. I ask thee if thou art not complete when God 
is thine ? Dost thou want anything but God ? Is not His 
all-sufficiency enough to satisfy thee if all else should fail ? 
But thou wantest more than quiet satisfaction ; thou desirest 
rapturous delight. Come, soul, here is music fit for Heaven 
in this thy portion, for God is the Maker of Heaven. Not 
all the music blown from sweet instruments, or drawn from 
living strings, can yield such melody as this sweet promise, 
" I will be their God." Here is a deep sea of bliss, a shore- 
less ocean of delight ; come, bathe thy spirit in it ; swim an 
age, and thou shalt find no shore ; dive throughout eter- 
nity, and thou shalt find no bottom. " I will be their God.'* 
If this do not make thine eyes sparkle, and thy heart beat 
high with bliss, then assuredly thy soul is not in a healthy 
state. But thou wantest more than present delights — thou 
cravest something concerning which thou mayest exercise 
hope ; and what more canst thou hope for than the fulfilment 
of this great promise, " I will be their God " ? This is the 
masterpiece of all the promises ; its enjoyment makes a heav- 
en below, and will make a heaven above. Dwell in the light 
of thy Lord, and let thy soul be always ravished with His love. 
Get out the marrow and fatness which this portion yields thee. 
Live up to thy privileges, and rejoice with unspeakable joy. 



10 DAILY READINGS. Jail. 10. 

" There is laid up for me a crown of righteousness." 
2 Timothy iv. 8. 

^g^OUBTING one ! thou hast often said, " I fear I shall 
never enter heaven." Fear not ! all the people of 
God shall enter there. I love the quaint saying of a 
dying man, who exclaimed, " I have no fear of going home ; 
I have sent all before ; God's finger is on the latch of my 
door, and I am ready for Him to enter." " But," said one, 
" are you not afraid lest you should miss your inheritance ? " 
" Nay," said he, " nay ; there is one crown in heaven which 
the angel Gabriel could not wear; it will fit no head but 
mine. There is one throne in heaven which Paul the apostle 
could not fill ; it was made for me, and I shall have it." 
Christian, what a joyous thought ! thy portion is secure ; 
" there remaineth a rest." " But cannot I forfeit it ? " No ; 
it is entailed. If I be a child of God I shall not lose it. It 
is mine as securely as if I were there. Come with me, be- 
liever, and let us sit upon the top of Nebo, and view the 
goodly land, even Canaan. Seest thou that little river of 
death glistening in the sunlight, and across it dost thou see 
the pinnacles of the eternal city ? l)ost thou mark the pleas- 
ant country and all its joyous inhabitants ? Know then that 
if thou couldst fly across thou wouldst see written upon one 
of its many mansions, " This remaineth for such a one ; pre- 
served for him only. He shall be caught up to dwell forever 
with God." Poor doubting one, see the fair inheritance ; it 
is thine. If thou believest in the Lord Jesus, if thou hast 
repented of sin, if thou hast been renewed in heart, thou art 
one of the Lord's people, and there is a place reserved for 
thee, a crown laid up for thee, a harp specially provided for 
thee. No one else shall have thy portion ; it is reserved in 
heaven for thee, and thou shalt have it ere long, for there 
shall be no vacant thrones in glory when all the chosen are 
gathered in. 



Jan. 11. DAILY HEADINGS. 11 

" These have no root." — Luke viii. 13. 




)Y soul, examine thyself this morning by the light of 
^PH! *^ s * ex ** Thou hast received the word with joy; 
thy feelings have been stirred, and a lively impres- 
sion has been made ; but, remember, that to receive the 
word in the ear is one thing, and to receive Jesus into thy 
very soul is quite another ; superficial feeling is often joined 
to inward hardness of heart, and a lively impression of the 
word is not always a lasting one. In the parable, the seed 
in one case fell upon ground having a rocky bottom, covered 
over with a thin layer of earth ; when the seed began to take 
root, its downward growth was hindered by the hard stone, 
and therefore it spent.its strength in pushing its green shoot 
aloft as high as it could, but having no inward moisture de- 
rived from root nourishment, it withered away. Is this my 
case ? Have I been making a fair show in the flesh without 
having a corresponding inner life ? Good growth takes place 
upwards and downwards at the same time. Am I rooted in 
sincere fidelity and love to Jesus ? If my heart remains 
unsoftened and unfertilized by grace, the good seed may 
germinate for a season, but it must ultimately wither, for it 
cannot flourish on a rocky, unbroken, unsanctified heart. 
Let me dread a godliness as rapid in growth and as wanting 
in endurance as Jonah's gourd ; let me count the cost of 
being a follower of Jesus ; above all let me feel the energy 
of His Holy Spirit, and then I shall possess an abiding and 
enduring seed in my soul. If my mind remains as obdurate 
as it was by nature, the sun of trial will scorch, and my hard 
heart will help to cast the heat the more terribly upon the 
ill-covered seed, and my religion will soon die, and my de- 
spair will be terrible ; therefore, heavenly Sower, plough 
me first, and then cast the truth into me, and let me yield 
Thee a bounteous harvest. 




12 DAILY READINGS. Jan. 12. 

" Ye are Christ's." — 1 Corinthians iii. 23. 

££#E are Christ's. You are His by donation, for the 
fej Father gave you to the Son ; His by His bloody 
purchase, for He counted down the price for your 
redemption ; His by dedication, for you have con- 
secrated yourself to Hirn ; His by relation, for you are named 
by His name, and made one of His brethren and joint-heirs. 
Labor practically to show the world that you are the servant, 
the friend, the bride of Jesus. When tempted to sin, reply, 
" I cannot do this great wickedness, for I am Christ's." Im- 
mortal principles forbid the friend of Christ to sin. When 
wealth is before you to be won by sin, say that you are 
Christ's, and touch it not. Are you exposed to difficulties 
and dangers ? Stand fast in the evil day, remembering that 
you are Christ's. Are you placed where others are sitting 
down idly, doing nothing ? Rise to the work with all your 
powers ; and when the sweat stands upon your brow, and 
you are tempted to loiter, cry, " No, I cannot stop, for I am 
Christ's. If I were not purchased by blood, I might be like 
Issachar, couching between two burdens ; but I am Christ's, 
and cannot loiter." When the siren song of pleasure would 
tempt you from the path of right, reply, " Thy music cannot 
charm me ; I am Christ's." When the cause of God invites 
thee, give thyself to it ; when the poor require thee, give 
thy goods and thyself away, for thou art Christ's. Never 
belie thy profession. Be thou ever one of those whose 
manners are Christian, whose speech is like the Nazarene, 
whose conduct and conversation are so redolent of heaven, 
that all who see you may know that you are the Saviour's, 
recognizing in you His features of love and His countenance 
of holiness. " I am a Roman ! " was of old a reason for 
integrity ; far more, then, let it be your argument for holi- 
ness, " I am Christ's." 




Jan. 13. DAILY READINGS. 13 

" Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold : 

but they went not ; for the ships were broken at JEzion-geber." 

1 Kings xxii. 48. 

SOLOMON'S ships had returned in safety, but Je- 
jj^J hoshaphat's vessels never reached the land of gold. 
Providence prospers one, and frustrates the desires 
of another, in the same business and at the same spot, yet 
the Great Ruler is as good and wise at one time as another. 
May we have grace to-day, in the remembrance of this text, 
to bless the Lord for ships broken at Ezion-geber, as well as 
for vessels freighted with temporal blessings ; let us not envy 
the more successful, nor murmur at our losses as though we 
were singularly and specially tried. Like Jehoshaphat, we 
may be precious in the Lord's sight, although our schemes 
end in disappointment. The secret cause of Jehoshaphat's 
loss is well worthy of notice, for it is the root of very much of 
the suffering of the Lord's people ; it was his alliance with a 
sinful family, his fellowship with sinners. In 2 Chron. xx. 37, 
we are told that the Lord sent a prophet to declare, " Be- 
cause thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the Lord hath 
broken thy works." This was a fatherly chastisement, which 
appears to have been blessed to him ; for in the verse which 
succeeds our morning's text we find him refusing to allow his 
servants to sail in the same vessels with those of the wicked 
king. Would to God that Jehoshaphat's experience might 
be a warning to the rest of the Lord's people, to avoid being 
unequally yoked together with unbelievers ! A life of mis- 
ery is usually the lot of those who are united in marriage, 
or in any other way of their own choosing, with the men of 
the world. for such love to Jesus that, like Him, we 
may be holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners ; 
for if it be not so with us, we may expect to hear it often 
said, " The Lord hath broken thy works." 
2 



14 DAILY HEADINGS. Jan. 14. 

"Mighty to save" — Isaiah lxiii. 1. 

j^Y the words "to save" we understand the whole of 
J© the great work of salvation, from the first holy desire 
*k" onward to complete sanctification. The words are 
multum in parvo ; indeed, here is all mercy in one word. 
Christ is not only " mighty to save " those who repent, but 
He is able to make men repent. He will carry those to 
heaven who believe ; but He is, moreover, mighty to give 
men new hearts, and to work faith in them. He is mighty 
to make the man who hates holiness love it, and to constrain 
the despiser of His name to bend the knee before Him. 
Nay, this is not all the meaning, for the divine power is 
equally seen in the after-work. The life of a believer is a 
series of miracles wrought by " the Mighty God." The bush 
burns, but is not consumed. He is mighty to keep His 
people holy after He has made them so, and to preserve 
them in His fear and love until He consummates their spir- 
itual existence in heaven. Christ's might doth not lie in 
making a believer and then leaving him to shift for himself; 
but He who begins the good work carries it on ; He who 
imparts the first germ of life in the dead soul, prolongs the 
divine existence, and strengthens it until it bursts asunder 
every bond of sin, and the soiil leaps from earth, perfected 
in glory. Believer, here is encouragement. Art thou pray- 
ing for some beloved one ? O give not up thy prayers, for 
Christ is " mighty to save." You are powerless to reclaim 
the rebel, but your Lord is Almighty. Lay hold on that 
mighty arm, and rouse it to put forth its strength. Does 
your own case trouble you ? Fear not, for His strength is 
sufficient for you. Whether to begin with others, or to carry 
on the work in you, Jesus is "mighty to save;" the best 
proof of which lies in the fact that He has saved you. 
What a thousand mercies that you have not found Him 
mighty to destroy ! 



Jan. 15. DAILY READINGS. 15 

"Do as Thou hast said." — 2 Samuel vii. 25. 

jS^p^OD'S promises were never meant to be thrown aside 
kv as waste paper ; He intended that they should be 
used. God's gold is not miser's money, but is minted 
to be traded with. Nothing pleases our Lord better than to 
see his promises put in circulation ; He loves to see His 
children bring them up to Him, and say, " Lord, do as Thou 
hast said." We glorify God when we plead His promises. 
Do you think that God will be any the poorer for giving you 
the riches He has promised ? Do you dream that He will be 
any the less holy for giving holiness to you ? Do you imagine 
He will be any the less pure for washing you from your sins ? 
He has said, " Come, now, and let us reason together, saith 
the Lord : though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as 
white as snow ; though they be red like crimson, they shall 
be as wool." Faith lays hold upon the promise of pardon, 
and it does not delay, saying, " This is a precious promise ; 
I wonder if it be true ? " but it goes straight to the throne 
with it, and pleads, " Lord, here is the promise. ' Do as Thou 
hast said.' " Our Lord replies, " Be it unto thee even as 
thou wilt." When a Christian grasps a promise, if he do 
not take it to God, he dishonors him ; but when he hastens 
to the throne of grace, and cries, " Lord, I have nothing to 
recommend me but this, ' Thou hast said it,' " then his 
desire shall be granted. Our heavenly Banker delights to 
cash His own notes. Never let the promise rust. Draw the 
word of promise out of its scabbard, and use it with holy 
violence. Think not that God will be troubled by your im- 
portunately reminding Him of His promises. He loves to 
hear the loud outcries of needy souls. It is His delight to 
bestow favors. He is more ready to hear than you are to 
ask. The sun is not weary of shining, nor the fountain of 
flowing. It is God's nature to keep His promises ; therefore 
go at once to the throne with "Do as Thou hast said." 



16 DAILY HEADINGS. Jan. 16. 

"J will help thee, saith the Lord." — Isaiah xli. 14. 

^xpIIS morning let us hear the Lord Jesus speak to each 
one of us: "I will help thee." "It is but a small 
thing for Me, thy God, to help thee. Consider what 
I have done already. What ! not help thee ? Why, I bought 
thee with My blood. What ! not help thee ? I have died for 
thee ; and if I have done the greater, will I not do the less ? 
Help thee ! It is the least thing I will ever do for thee ; I 
have done more, and will do more. Before the world began 
I chose thee. I made the covenant for thee. I laid aside 
My glory and became a man for thee ; I gave My life for thee ; 
and if I did all this, I will surely help thee now. In helping 
thee, I am giving thee what I have bought for thee already. 
If thou hadst need of a thousand times as much help, I would 
give it thee ; thou requirest little compared with what I am 
ready to give. 'Tis much for thee to need, but it is nothing 
for Me to bestow. 'Help thee ? ' Fear not ! If there were 
an ant at the door of thy granary asking for help, it would 
not ruin thee to give him a handful of thy wheat ; and thou 
art nothing but a tiny insect at the door of My all-sufficiency. 
' 1 will help thee.' " 

O my soul, is not this enough ? Dost thou need more 
strength than the omnipotence of the United Trinity ? Dost 
thou want more wisdom than exists in the Father, more love 
than displays itself in the Son, or more power than is manifest 
in the influences of the Spirit ? Bring hither thine empty 
pitcher ! Surely this well will fill it. Haste, gather up thy 
wants, and bring them here — thine emptiness, thy woes, thy 
needs. Behold, this river of God is full for thy supply ; what 
canst thou desire beside ? Go forth, my soul, in this thy 
might. The Eternal God is thine helper ! 

" Fear not, I am with thee ; O be not dismayed ! 
I, I am thy God, and will still give thee aid." 




Jan. 17. DAILY READINGS. 17 

" And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the Mount Zion." 
Revelation xiv. 1. 

^HE apostle John was privileged to look within the 
jates of heaven, and in describing what he saw, he 
y begins by saying, " I looked, and lo, a lamb ! " This 
teaches us that the chief object of contemplation in the 
heavenly state is " the Lamb of Grod, which taketh away the 
sins of the world." Nothing else attracted the apostle's at- 
tention so much as the person of that Divine Being, who hath 
redeemed us by His blood. He is the theme of the songs 
of all glorified spirits and holy angels. Christian, here is joy 
for thee ; thou hast looked, and thou hast seen the Lamb. 
Through thy tears thine eyes have seen the Lamb of Grod 
taking away thy sins. Rejoice, then. In a little while, when 
thine eyes shall have been wiped from tears, thou wilt see 
the same Lamb exalted on His throne. It is the joy of thy 
heart to hold daily fellowship with Jesus ; thou shalt have the 
same joy to a higher degree in heaven ; thou shalt enjoy the 
constant vision of His presence ; thou shalt dwell with Him 
forever. " I looked, and, lo, a Lamb ! " Why, that Lamb is 
heaven itself; for as good Rutherford says, "Heaven and 
Christ are the same thing ; " to be with Christ is to be in heav- 
en, and to be in heaven is to be with Christ. That prisoner of 
the Lord very sweetly writes in one of his glowing letters — 
" O my Lord Christ, if I could be in heaven without thee it 
would be a hell ; and if I could be in hell, and have thee still, it 
would be a heaven to me, for thou art all the heaven I want." 
It is true, is it not, Christian ? Does not thy soul say so ? 
"Not all the harps above 

Can make a heavenly place, 

If God His residence remove, 

v Or but conceal His face." 

All thou needest to make thee blessed, supremely blessed, 
is, "to be with Christ." 
2* 



18 DAILY HEADINGS. Jan. 18. 

" There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God." 
Hebrews iv. 9. 



W* 




OW different will be the state of the believer in heaven 



j from what it is here ! Here he is born to toil and 
suffer weariness ; but in the land of the immortal, 
fatigue is never known. Anxious to serve his Master, he 
finds his strength unequal to his zeal : his constant cry is, 
" Help me to serve Thee, my God." If he be thoroughly 
active, he will have much labor ; not too much for his will, 
but more than enough for his power, so that he will cry out, 
" I am not wearied of the labor, but I am wearied in it" Ah ! 
Christian, the hot day of weariness lasts not forever : the 
sun is nearing the horizon ; it shall rise again with a brighter 
day than thou hast ever seen, upon a land where they serve 
God day and night, and yet rest from their labors. Here, 
rest is but partial ; there, it is perfect. Here, the Christian 
is always unsettled ; he feels that he has not yet attained. 
There, all are at rest ; they have attained the summit of the 
mountain ; they have ascended to the bosom of their God. 
Higher they cannot go. Ah, toil-worn laborer, only think 
when thou shalt rest forever ! Canst thou conceive it ? It 
is a rest eternal; a rest that "remaineth." Here, my best 
joys bear "mortal" on their brow; my fair flowers fade; 
my dainty cups are drained to dregs ; my sweetest birds 
fall before death's arrows ; my most pleasant days are 
shadowed into nights ; and the flood-tides of my bliss sub- 
side into ebbs of sorrow ; but there, everything is immor- 
tal ; the harp abides unrusted, the crown unwithered, the 
eye undimmed, the voice unfaltering, the heart unwaver- 
ing, and the immortal being is wholly absorbed in infinite 
delight. Happy day ! happy day ! when mortality shall 
be swallowed up of life, and the Eternal Sabbath shall 
begin. 




Jan. 19. DAILY HEADINGS. 19 

"I sought him, but I found him not." — Canticles iii. 1. 

gELL me where you lost the company of Christ, and I 
will tell you the most likely place to find Him. Have 
you lost Christ in the closet by restraining prayer ? 
Then it is there you must seek and find Him. Did you lose 
Christ by sin ? You will find Christ in no other way but by 
the giving up of the sin, and seeking by the Holy Spirit to 
mortify the member in which the lust doth dwell. Did you 
lose Christ by neglecting the Scriptures ? You must find 
Christ in the Scriptures. It is a true proverb, " Look for a 
thing where you dropped it ; it is there." So look for Christ 
where you lost Him, for He has not gone away. But it is 
hard work to go back for Christ. Bunyan tells us, the pil- 
grim found the piece of the road back to the Arbor of Ease, 
where he lost his roll, the hardest he had ever travelled. 
Twenty miles onward is easier than to go one mile back for 
the lost evidence. 

Take care, then, when you find your Master, to cling close 
to Him. But how is it you have lost Him ? One would 
have thought you would never have parted with such a pre- 
cious friend, whose presence is so sweet, whose words are so 
comforting, and whose company is so dear to you ! How is 
it that you did not watch Him every moment for fear of 
losing sight of Him ? Yet, since you have let Him go, what 
a mercy that you are seeking Him, even though you mourn- 
fully groan, " that I knew where I might find Him ! " Go 
on seeking, for it is dangerous to be without thy Lord. With- 
out Christ you are like a sheep without its shepherd ; like a 
tree without water at its roots ; like a sere leaf in the tem- 
pest — not bound to the tree of life. With thine whole heart 
seek Him, and He will be found of thee : only give thyself 
thoroughly up to the search, and verily, thou shalt yet dis- 
cover Him to thy joy and gladness. 




20 daily headings. Jan. 20. 

" Abel was a keeper of sheep" — Genesis iv. 2. 

l^rjS a shepherd Abel sanctified his work to the glory of 
God, and offered a sacrifice of blood upon his altar, 
and the Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering. 
This early type of our Lord is exceedingly clear and distinct. 
Like the first streak of light which tinges the east at sunrise, 
it does not reveal everything, but it clearly manifests the great 
fact that the sun is coming. As we see Abel, a shepherd 
and yet a priest, offering a sacrifice of sweet smell unto God, 
we discern our Lord, who brings before His Father a sacri- 
fice to which Jehovah ever hath respect. Abel was hated by 
his brother — hated without a cause ; and even so was the 
Saviour : the natural and carnal man hated the accepted man 
in whom the Spirit of grace was found, and rested not until 
his blood had been shed. Abel fell, and sprinkled his altar 
and sacrifice with his own blood, and therein sets forth the 
Lord Jesus slain by the enmity of man while serving as a 
priest before the Lord. " The good Shepherd layeth down 
His life for the sheep." Let us weep over Him as we view 
Him slain by the hatred of mankind, staining the horns of His 
altar with His own blood. Abel's blood speaketh. " The 
Lord said unto Cain, The voice of thy brother's blood crieth 
unto Me from the ground." The blood of Jesus hath a mighty 
tongue, and the import of its prevailing cry is not vengeance, 
but mercy. It is precious beyond all preciousness to stand at 
the altar of our good Shepherd ; to see Him bleeding there as 
the slaughtered priest, and then to hear His blood speaking 
peace to all His flock, peace in our conscience, peace between 
Jew and Gentile, peace between man and his offended Maker, 
peace all down the ages of eternity for blood-washed men. 
Abel is the first shepherd in order of time, but our hearts 
shall ever place Jesus first in order of excellence. Thou great 
Keeper of the sheep, we the people of Thy pasture bless Thee 
with our whole hearts when we see Thee slain for us. 



Jan. 21. DAILY HEADINGS. 21 

"And so all Israel shall be saved." — Eomans xi. 26. 

^ q *|^HEN Moses sang at the Red Sea, it was his joy to 
know that all Israel were safe. Not a drop of spray 
fell from that solid wall until the last of God's Israel 
had safely planted his foot on the other side the flood. That 
done, immediately the floods dissolved into their proper place 
again, but not till then. Part of that song was, " Thou in thy 
mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed." 
In the last time, when the elect shall sing the song of 
Moses, the servant of Glod, and of the Lamb, it shall be the 
boast of Jesus, " Of all whom thou hast given me, I have lost 
none." In heaven there shall not be a vacant throne. 

"For all the chosen race 

Shall meet around the throne, 
Shall bless the conduct of His grace, 
And make His glories known." 

As many as God hath chosen, as many as Christ hath re- 
deemed, as many as the Spirit hath called, as many as believe 
in Jesus, shall safely cross the dividing sea. We are not 
all safely landed yet : 

" Part of the host have crossed the flood, 
And part are crossing now." 

The vanguard of the army has already reached the shore. 
We are marching through the depths ; we are at this day fol- 
lowing hard after our Leader into the heart of the sea. Let 
us be of good cheer : the rearguard shall soon be where the 
vanguard already is ; the last of the chosen ones shall soon 
have crossed the sea, and then shall be heard the song of 
triumph, when all are secure. But oh ! if one were absent 
— oh I if one of his chosen family should be cast away — it 
would make an everlasting discord in the song of the re- 
deemed, and cut the strings of the harps of paradise, so that 
music could never be extorted from them. 




22 daily bladings. Jan. 22. 

" Son of man, What is the vine tree more than any tree, or than a 
branch which is among the trees of the forest?" — Ezek. xv. 2. 

j*^HESE words are for the humbling of God's people ; 
they are called God's vine, but what are they by na- 
ture more than others ? They, by God's goodness, 
have become fruitful, having been planted in a good soil ; the 
Lord hath trained them upon the walls of the sanctuary, and 
they bring forth fruit to His glory ; but what are they without 
their God ? What are they without the continual influence 
of the Spirit, begetting fruitfulness in them ? believer, 
learn to reject pride, seeing that thou hast no ground for it. 
"Whatever thou art, thou hast nothing to make thee proud. 
The more thou hast, the more thou art in debt to God ; and 
thou shouldst not be proud of that which renders thee a 
debtor. Consider thine origin ! look back to what thou wast. 
Consider what thou wouldst have been but for divine grace. 
Look upon thyself as thou art now. Doth not thy conscience 
reproach thee ? Do not thy thousand wanderings stand be- 
fore thee, and tell thee that thou art unworthy to be called 
His son ? And if He hath made thee anything, art thou not 
taught thereby that it is grace which hath made thee to dif- 
fer ? Great believer, thou wouldst have been a great sinner 
if God had not made thee to differ. thou who art valiant for 
truth, thou wouldst have been as valiant for error if grace 
had not laid hold upon thee. Therefore, be not proud, 
though thou hast a large estate — a wide domain of grace ; 
thou hadst not once a single thing to call thine own ex- 
cept thy sin and misery. Oh ! strange infatuation, that 
thou, who hast borrowed everything, shouldst think of ex- 
alting thyself; a poor dependent pensioner upon the bounty 
of thy Saviour, one who hath a life which dies without fresh 
streams of life from Jesus, and yet proud ! Fie on thee, 
silly heart ! 



Jan. 23. daily readings. 23 

" I have exalted one chosen out of the people." — Ps. lxxxix. 19. 

JWSJIJJHY was Christ chosen out of the people ? Speak, 
W'SMm m J heart, for heart-thoughts are best. Was it not 
^*&y&> f.]^ jj e m ight be able to be our brother in the blest 
tie of kindred blood ? Oh, what relationship there is be- 
tween Christ and the believer ! The believer can say, " I 
have a Brother in heaven ; I may be poor, but I have a 
Brother who is rich, and is a King, and will He suffer me to 
want while He is on His throne ? Oh, no ! He loves me ; 
He is my brother." Believer, wear this blessed thought, 
like a necklace of diamonds, around the neck of thy memo- 
ry ; put it, as a golden ring, on the finger of recollection, 
and use it as the King's own seal, stamping the petitions of 
thy faith with confidence of success. He is a brother, born 
for adversity ; treat him as such. 

Christ was also chosen out of the people that He might 
know our wants and sympathize with us. " He was tempted 
in all points like as we are, yet without sin." In all our 
sorrows we have His sympathy. Temptation, pain, disap- 
pointment, weakness, weariness, poverty — He knows them 
all, for He has felt all. Remember this, Christian, and let 
it comfort thee. However difficult and painful thy road, it 
is marked by the footsteps of thy Saviour ; and even when 
thou reachest the dark valley of the shadow of death, and 
the deep waters of the swelling Jordan, thou wilt find His 
footprints there. In all places whithersoever we go, He has 
been our forerunner ; each burden we have to carry, has once 
been laid on the shoulders of Immanuel. 

" His way was much rougher and darker than mine ; 
Did Christ, my Lord, suffer, and shall I repine ? " 

Take courage ! Royal feet have left a blood-red track upon 
the road, and consecrated the thorny path forever. 




24 daily readings. Jan. 24. 

" Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler." 
Psalm xci. 3. 

£)0D delivers His people from the snare of the fowler 
in two senses. From, and out of. First, He deliv- 
ers them from the snare — does not let them enter 
it ; and secondly, if they should be caught therein, He de- 
livers them out of it. The first promise is the most precious 
to some ; the second is the best to others. 

"He shall deliver thee from the snare." How? Trouble 
is often the means whereby God delivers us. God knows 
that our backsliding will soon end in our destruction, and 
He in mercy sends the rod. We say, " Lord, why is this ? " 
not knowing that our trouble has been the means of deliv- 
ering us from far greater evil. Many have been thus saved 
from ruin by their sorrows and their crosses ; these have 
frightened the birds from the net. At other times, God 
keeps His people from the snare of the fowler by giving 
them great spiritual strength, so that when they are tempted 
to do evil they say, " How can I do this great wickedness, 
and sin against God ? " But what a blessed thing it is that 
if the believer shall, in an evil hour, come into the net, yet 
God will bring him out of it ! O backslider, be cast down, 
but do not despair. Wanderer though thou hast been, hear 
w T hat thy Redeemer saith — "Return, backsliding chil- 
dren ; I will have mercy upon you." But you say you 
cannot return, for you are a captive. Then listen to the 
promise — " Surely He shall deliver thee out of the snare 
of the fowler." Thou shalt yet be brought out of all the 
evil into which thou hast fallen ; and though thou shalt 
never cease to repent of thy ways, yet He that hath loved 
thee will not cast thee away; He will receive thee, and 
give thee joy and gladness, that the bones which He has 
broken may rejoice. No bird of paradise shall die in the 
fowler's net. 



Jan. 25. daily headings. 25 

" I will mention the loving kindnesses of the Lord, and the 
praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord hath bestowed 
on us." — Isaiah lxiii. 7. 

^|^ND canst thou not do this? Are there no mercies 
Win % which thou hast experienced f What though thou art 
^*^ gloomy now, canst thou forget that blessed hour 
when Jesus met thee, and said, " Come unto me " ? Canst 
thou not remember that rapturous moment when He snapped 
thy fetters, dashed thy chains to the earth, and said, " I 
came to break thy bonds and set thee free " ? Or if the 
love of thine espousals be forgotten, there must surely be 
some precious milestone along the road of life not quite 
grown over with moss, on which thou canst read a happy 
memorial of His mercy toward thee. What, didst thou 
never have a sickness like that which thou art suffering now, 
and did He not restore thee ? Wert thou never poor before, 
and did He not supply thy wants ? Wast thou never in straits 
before, and did He not deliver thee ? Arise, go to the river 
of thine experience, and pull up a few bulrushes, and plait 
them into an ark, wherein thine infant-faith may float safely 
on the stream. Forget not what thy God has done for thee ; 
turn over the book of thy remembrance, and consider the 
days of old. Canst thou not remember the hill Mizar ? Did 
the Lord never meet with thee at Hermon ? Hast thou never 
climbed the Delectable Mountains ? Hast thou never been 
helped in time of need ? Nay, I know thou hast. Go back, 
then, a little way to the choice mercies of yesterday, and 
though all may be dark now, light up the lamps of the past ; 
they shall glitter through the darkness, and thou shalt trust 
in the Lord till the day break and the shadows flee away. 
"Remember, Lord, thy tender mercies and thy loving 
kindnesses, for they have been ever of old." 
3 




26 daily readings. Jan. 26. 

" Your heavenly Father" — Matthew vi. 26. 

^JOD'S people are doubly His children ; they are His 
offspring by creation, and they are His sons by adop- 
tion in Christ. Hence they are privileged to call 
Him, " Our Father which art in heaven." Father ! Oh, 
what a precious word is that ! Here is authority : " If I be 
a Father, where is mine honor ? " If ye be sons, where is 
your obedience ? Here is affection mingled with authority ; 
an authority which does not provoke rebellion ; an obedience 
demanded which is most cheerfully rendered — which would 
not be withheld even if it might. The obedience which God's 
children yield to Him must be loving obedience. Do not go 
about the service of G-od as slaves to their taskmaster's toil, 
but run in the way of His commands because it is your 
Father's way. Yield your bodies as instruments of righteous- 
ness, because righteousness is your Father's will, and His will 
should be the will of His child. Father I — Here is a kingly 
attribute so sweetly veiled in love, that the King's crown is 
forgotten in the King's face, and His sceptre becomes not a 
rod of iron, but a silver sceptre of mercy — the sceptre 
indeed seems to be forgotten in the tender hand of Him 
who wields it. Father ! — Here is honor and love. How 
great is a father's love to his children ! That which friend- 
ship cannot do, and mere benevolence will not attempt, a 
father's heart and hand must do" for his sons. They are his 
offspring, he must bless them ; they are his children, he must 
show himself strong in their defence. If an earthly father 
watches over his children with unceasing love and care, how 
much more does our heavenly Father ! Abba, Father ! He 
who can say this, hath uttered better music than cherubim 
or seraphim can reach. There is heaven in the depth of 
that word — Father ! There is all I can ask ; all my neces- 
sities can demand ; all my wishes can desire. I have all in 
all to all eternity when I can say, " Father." 




Jan. 27. daily readings. 27 

" And of his fulness have all we received." — John i. 16. 

^HESE words tell us that there is a fulness in Christ. 
There is a fulness of essential Deity, for " in Him 
dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead." There 
is a fulness of perfect manhood, for in Him, bodily, that 
Godhead was revealed. There is a fulness of atoning efficacy 
in His blood, for " the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, 
cleanseth us from all sin." There is a fulness of justifying 
righteousness in His life, for " there is therefore now no 
condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus." There is 
a fulness of divine prevalence in His plea, for "He is able 
to save to the uttermost them that come unto Grod by Him ; 
seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them." There 
is a fulness of victory in His death, for through death He 
destroyed him that had the power of death, that is, the devil. 
There is a fulness of efficacy in His resurrection from the 
dead, for by it " we are begotten again unto a lively hope." 
There is a fulness of triumph in His ascension, for " when 
He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and 
received gifts for men." There is a fulness of blessings of 
every sort and shape ; a fulness of grace to pardon, of grace 
to regenerate, of grace to sanctify, of grace to preserve, and 
of grace to perfect. There is a fulness at all times ; a ful- 
ness of comfort in affliction ; a fulness of guidance in prosper- 
ity. A fulness of every divine attribute, of wisdom, of power, 
of love ; a fulness which it were impossible to survey, much 
less to explore. " It pleased the Father that in Him should all 
fulness dwell." Oh, what a fulness must this be of which all 
receive ! Fulness indeed must there be when the stream is 
always flowing, and yet the well springs up as free, as rich, 
as full as ever. Come, believer, and get all thy need 
supplied ; ask largely, and thou shalt receive largely, for this 
" fulness " is inexhaustible, and is treasured up where all the 
needy may reach it, even in Jesus, Immanuel — Grod with us. 



28 daily readings. Jan. 28. 

"Perfect in Christ Jesus." — Colossians i. 28. 

^j^O you not feel in your own soul that perfection is not 
in you ? Does not every day teach you that ? Every 
tear which trickles from your eye, weeps " imperfec- 
tion ; " every sigh which bursts from your heart, cries 
" imperfection ; " every harsh word which proceeds from 
your lip, mutters " imperfection." You have too frequently 
had a view of your own heart to dream for a moment of any 
perfection in yourself. But amidst this sad consciousness of 
imperfection, here is comfort for you — you are " perfect in 
Christ Jesus." In God's sight, you are " complete in Him ; " 
even now you are " accepted in the beloved." But there is 
a second perfection, yet to be realized, which is sure to all 
the seed. Is it not delightful to look forward to the time 
when every stain of sin shall be removed from the believer, 
and he shall be presented faultless before the throne, without 
spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing ? The Church of Christ 
then will be so pure, that not even the eye of Omniscience 
will see a spot or blemish in her ; so holy and so glorious, 
that Hart did not go beyond the truth when he said — 

"With my Saviour's garments on, 
Holy as the Holy One." 

Then shall we know, and taste, and feel the happiness of this 
vast but short sentence, " Complete in Christ." Not till then 
shall we fully comprehend the heights and depths of the sal- 
vation of Jesus. Doth not thy heart leap for joy at the 
thought of it ? Black as thou art, thou shalt be white one 
day ; filthy as thou art, thou shalt be clean. Oh, it is a 
marvellous salvation this ! Christ takes a worm and trans- 
forms it into an angel ; Christ takes a black and deformed 
thing and makes it clean and matchless in His glory, peerless 
in His beauty, and fit to be the companion of seraphs. 
my soul, stand and admire this blessed truth of perfection 
in Christ. 




Jan. 29. daily readings. 29 

" Tlie tilings which are not seen." — 2 Corinthians iv. 18. 

}N our Christian pilgrimage, it is well, for the most 
part, to be looking forward. Forward lies the crown, 
and onward is the goal. Whether it be for hope, for 
joy, for consolation, or for the inspiring of our love, the future 
must, after all, be the grand object of the eye of faith. Look- 
ing into the future, we see sin cast out, the body of sin and 
death destroyed, the soul made perfect, and fit to be a par- 
taker of the inheritance of the saints in light. Looking fur- 
ther yet, the believer's enlightened eye can see death's river 
passed, the gloomy stream forded, and the hills of light at- 
tained on which standeth the celestial city ; he seeth himself 
enter within the pearly gates, hailed as more than conqueror, 
crowned by the hand of Christ, embraced in the arms of Je- 
sus, glorified with Him, and made to sit together with Him 
on His throne, even as He has overcome and has sat down 
with the Father on His throne. The thought of this future 
may well relieve the darkness of the past and the gloom of 
the present. The joys of heaven will surely compensate for 
the sorrows of earth. Hush, my fears ! this world is but a 
narrow span, and thou shalt soon have passed it. Hush, hush, 
my doubts ! death is but a narrow stream, and thou shalt soon 
have forded it. Time, how short — eternity, how long ! Death, 
how brief — immortality, how endless ! Methinks I even now 
eat of Eshcol's clusters, and sip of the well which is within the 
gate. The road is so, so short ! I shall soon be there. 

" When the world my heart is rending 

"With its heaviest storm of care, 
My glad thoughts, to heaven ascending, 

Find a refuge from despair. 
Faith's bright vision shall sustain me 

Till life's pilgrimage is past ; 
Fears may vex, and troubles pain me, 

I shall reach my home at last." 

3* 



30 daily headings. Jan. 30. 

"When thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mul- 
berry trees, then thou shalt bestir thyself." — 2 Sam. v. 24. 

iHE members of Christ's Church should be very prayer- 
'M^ ful, always seeking the unction of the Holy One to 
rest upon their hearts, that the kingdom of Christ 
may come, and that His " will be done on earth, even as it 
is in heaven ; " but there are times when God seems especial- 
ly to favor Zion ; such seasons ought to be to them like " the 
sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees." We 
ought then to be doubly prayerful, doubly earnest, wrestling 
more at the throne than we have been wont to do. Action 
should then be prompt and vigorous. The tide is flowing — 
now let us pull manfully for the shore. for Pentecostal 
outpourings and Pentecostal labors ! Christian, in yourself 
there are times " when thou hearest the sound of a going in 
the tops of the mulberry trees." You have a peculiar power 
in prayer ; the Spirit of God gives you joy and gladness ; the 
Scripture is open to you ; the promises are applied ; you walk 
in the light of God's countenance ; you have peculiar free- 
dom and liberty in devotion, and more closeness of commun- 
ion with Christ than was your wont. Now, at such joyous 
periods, when you hear the " sound of a going in the tops .of 
the mulberry trees," is the time to bestir yourself; now is the 
time to get rid of any evil habit, while God the Spirit helpeth 
your infirmities. Spread your sail ; but remember what you 
sometimes sing — 

" I can only spread the sail ; 
Thou ! Thou ! must breathe the auspicious gale." 

Only be sure you have the sail up. Do not miss the gale 
for want of preparation for it. Seek help of God, that you 
may be more earnest in duty when made more strong in 
faith ; that you may be more constant in prayer when you 
have more liberty at the throne ; that you may be more holy 
in your conversation whilst you live more closely with Christ. 




Jail. 31. DAILY READINGS. 31 

" The Lord our righteousness." — Jeremiah xxiii. 6. 

}T will always give a Christian the greatest calm, quiet, 
^j ease, and peace, to think of the perfect righteousness 
of Christ. How often are the saints of God downcast 
and sad ! I do not think they ought to be. I do not think 
they would if they could always see their perfection in Christ. 
There are some who are always talking about corruption, and 
the depravity of the heart, and the innate evil of the soul. 
This is quite true, but why not go a little further, and re- 
member that we are "perfect in Christ Jesus"? It is no 
wonder that those who are dwelling upon their own corrup- 
tion should wear such downcast looks ; but surely if we call 
to mind that " Christ is made unto us righteousness," we 
shall be of good cheer. What though distresses afflict me, 
though Satan assault me, though there may be many things 
to be experienced before I get to heaven ; those are done for 
me in the covenant of divine grace ; there is nothing wanting 
in my Lord ; Christ hath done it all. On the cross He said, 
" It is finished ! " and if it be finished, then am I complete 
in Him, and can rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of 
glory, " not having mine own righteousness, which is of the 
law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the right- 
eousness which is of Grod by faith." You will not find on 
this side heaven a holier people than those who receive into 
their hearts the doctrine of Christ's righteousness. When the 
believer says, " I live on Christ alone ; I rest on Him solely 
for salvation ; and I believe that, however unworthy, I am 
still saved in Jesus ; " then there rises up as a motive of grat- 
itude this thought — " Shall I not live to Christ ? Shall I not 
love Him and serve Him, seeing that I am saved by His mer- 
its ? " " The love of Christ constraineth us," " that they 
which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but 
unto Him which died for them." If saved by imputed right- 
eousness, we shall greatly value imparted righteousness. 




32 DAILY READINGS. Feb. 1. 

"They shall sing in the ways of the Lord." — Ps. cxxxviii. 5. 

!§?HE time when Christians begin to sing in the ways of 
I the Lord is when they first lose their burden at the 
foot of the Cross. Not even the songs of the angels 
seem so sweet as the first song of rapture which gushes from 
the inmost soul of the forgiven child of God. You know 
how John Bunyan describes it. He says, when poor Pilgrim 
lost his burden at the Cross, he gave three great leaps, and 
went on his way singing — 

" Blest Cross ! blest Sepulchre ! blest rather be 
The Man that tiiere was put to shame for me ! " 

Believer, do you recollect the day when your fetters fell off ? 
Do you remember the place when Jesus met you, and said, 
" I have loved thee with an everlasting love ; I have blotted 
out as a cloud thy transgressions, and as a thick cloud thy 
sins ; they shall not be mentioned against thee any more 
forever " ? Oh ! what a sweet season is that when Jesus 
takes away the pain of sin ! When the Lord first pardoned 
my sin, I was so joyous that I could scarce refrain from 
dancing. I thought on my road home from the house 
where I had been set at liberty, that I must tell the stones 
in the street the story of my deliverance. So full was my 
soul of joy, that I wanted to tell every snow-flake that was 
falling from heaven, of the wondrous love of Jesus, who 
had blotted out the sins of one of the chief of rebels. But 
it is not only at the commencement of the Christian life 
that believers have reason for song ; as long as they live 
they discover cause to sing in the ways of the Lord* and 
their experience of His constant loving kindness leads them 
to say, " I will bless the Lord at all times : His praise shall 
continually be. in my mouth." See to it, brother, that thou 
magnifiest the Lord this day. 

" Long as we tread this desert land, 
New mercies shall new songs demand." 




Feb. 2. DAILY READINGS. 33 

" Without shedding of blood is no remission" — Heb. ix. 22. 

•gHIS is the voice of unalterable truth. In none of the 
Jewish ceremonies were sins, even typically, removed 
without blood-shedding. In no case, by no means can 
sin be pardoned without atonement. It is clear, then, that 
there is no hope for me out of Christ ; for there is no other 
blood-shedding which is worth a thought as an atonement for 
sin. Am I, then, believing in Him ? Is the blood of His 
atonement truly applied to my soul ? All men are on a level 
as to their need of Him. If we be never so moral, generous, 
amiable, or patriotic, the rule will not be altered to make an 
exception for us. Sin will yield to nothing less potent than 
the blood of Him whom God hath set forth as a propitiation. 
What a blessing that there is the one way of pardon ! Why 
should we seek another ? Persons of merely formal religion 
cannot understand how we can rejoice that all our sins are 
forgiven us for Christ's sake. Their works, and prayers, and 
ceremonies, give them very poor comfort ; and well may they 
be uneasy, for they are neglecting the one great salvation, 
and endeavoring to get remission without blood. My soul, 
sit down, and behold the justice of God as bound to punish 
sin ; see that punishment all executed upon thy Lord Jesus, 
and fall down in humble joy, and kiss the dear feet of Him 
whose blood has made atonement for thee. It is in vain 
when conscience is aroused, to fly to feelings and evidences 
for comfort ; this is a habit which we learned in the Egypt 
of our legal bondage. The only restorative for a guilty con- 
science is a sight of Jesus suffering on the cross. " The 
blood is the life thereof," says the Levitical law, and let us 
rest assured that it is the life of faith and joy and every other 
holy grace. 

" Oh ! how sweet to view the flowing 

Of my Saviour's precious blood, 
With divine assurance knowing 
He has made my peace with God ! " 




34 DAILY READINGS. Feb. 3. 

" Therefore, brethren, we are debtors" — Romans viii. 12. 

«?S God's creatures, we are all debtors to Him ; to obey 
<j| Hiui with all our body, and soul, and strength. Hav- 
ing broken His commandments, as we all have, we 
are debtors to His justice, and we owe to Him a vast amount 
which we are not able to pay. But of the Christian it can be 
said, that he does not owe God's 'justice anything, for Christ 
has paid the debt His people owed ; for this reason the be- 
liever owes the more to love. I am a debtor to God's grace 
and forgiving mercy ; but I am no debtor to His justice, for 
He will never accuse me of a debt already paid. Christ said, 
" It is finished ! " and by that He meant, that whatever His 
people owed was wiped away forever from the book of re- 
membrance. Christ, to the uttermost, has satisfied divine 
justice ; the account is settled ; the handwriting is nailed to 
the cross ; the receipt is given, and we are debtors to God's 
justice no longer. But then, because we are not debtors to 
our Lord in that sense, we become ten times more debtors 
to God than we should have been otherwise. Christian, pause 
and ponder for a moment. What a debtor thou art to divine 
sovereignty ! How much thou owest to His disinterested love ! 
for He gave His own Son that He might die for thee. Con- 
sider how much you owe to His forgiving grace, that after ten 
thousand affronts He loves you as infinitely as ever. Consider 
what you owe to His power ; how He has raised you from your 
death in sin ; how He has preserved your spiritual life ; how 
He has kept you from falling ; and how, though a thousand 
enemies have beset your path, you have been able to hold on 
your way. Consider what you owe to His immutability. 
Though you have changed a thousand times, He has not 
changed once. Thou art as deep in debt as thou canst be 
to every attribute of God. To God thou owest thyself, and 
all thou hast — yield thyself as a living sacrifice; it is but 
thy reasonable service. 




Feb. 4. DAILY HEADINGS. 35 

" The love of the Lord." — Hosea iii. 1. 

RELIEVER, look hack through all thine experience, 
S and think of the way whereby the Lord thy God has 
^ led thee in the wilderness, and how He hath fed and 
clothed thee every day — how He hath borne with thine ill 
manners — how He hath put up with all thy murmurings, 
and all thy longings after the flesh-pots of Egypt — how He 
has opened the rock to supply thee, and fed thee with manna 
that came down from heaven. Think of how His grace has 
been sufficient for thee in all thy troubles — how His blood 
has been a pardon to thee in all thy sins — how His rod and 
His staff have comforted thee. When thou hast thus looked 
back upon the love of the Lord, then let faith survey His 
love in the future, for remember that Christ's covenant and 
blood have something more in them than the past. He who 
has loved thee and pardoned thee, shall never cease to love 
and pardon. He is Alpha, and He shall be Omega also : He 
is first, and He shall be last. Therefore, bethink thee, when 
thou shalt pass through the valley of the shadow of death, 
thou needest fear no evil, for He is with thee. When thou 
shalt stand in the cold floods of Jordan, thou needest not 
fear, for death cannot separate thee from His love ; and when 
thou shalt come into the mysteries of eternity thou needest 
not tremble, " for I am persuaded, that neither death, nor 
life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things 
present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any 
other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of 
Grod, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Now, soul, is not 
thy love refreshed ? Does not this make thee love Jesus ? 
Doth not a flight through illimitable plains of the ether of 
love inflame thy heart and compel thee to delight thyself in 
the Lord thy Grod ? Surely as we meditate on " the love of 
the Lord," our hearts burn within us, and we long to love 
Him more. 



36 DAILY READINGS. Feb. 5. 

" The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world." 
1 John iv. 14. 

¥kT is a sweet thought that Jesus Christ did not come 
|n forth without His Father's permission, authority, com- 
^ sent, and assistance. He was sent of the Father, that 
He might be the Saviour of men. "We are too apt to forget, 
that while there are distinctions as to the persons in the Trin- 
ity, there are no distinctions of honor. We too frequently 
ascribe the honor of our salvation, or at least the depths of 
its benevolence, more to Jesus Christ than we do to the Fa- 
ther. This is a very great mistake. What if Jesus came ? 
Did not His Father send Him ? If He spake wondrously, 
did not His Father pour grace into His lips, that He might 
be an able minister of the new covenant ? He who knoweth 
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost as he should 
know them, never setteth one before another in his love ; he 
sees them at Bethlehem, at Gethsemane, and on Calvary, all 
equally engaged in the work of salvation. Christian, hast 
thou put thy confidence in the Man Christ Jesus ? Hast thou 
placed thy reliance solely on Him ? And art thou united with 
Him ? Then believe that thou art united unto the God of 
heaven. Since to the Man Christ Jesus thou art brother, and 
holdest closest fellowship, thou art linked thereby with God 
the Eternal, and " the Ancient of days " is thy Father and 
thy Friend. Didst thou ever consider the depth of love in 
the heart of Jehovah, when God the Father equipped His 
Son for the great enterprise of mercy ? If not, be this thy 
day's meditation. The Father sent Him ! Contemplate that 
subject. Think how Jesus works what the Father wills. In 
the wounds of the dying Saviour see the love of the great 
I AM. Let every thought of Jesus be also connected with 
the Eternal, ever-blessed God, for " it pleased the Lord to 
bruise Him ; He hath put Him to grief." 



Feb. 6. DAILY READINGS. 37 

"Praying always." — Ephesians vi. 18. 

^^JHAT multitudes of prayers we have put up from the 
first moment when we learned to pray ! Our first 
prayer was a prayer for ourselves ; we asked that God 
would have mercy upon us, and blot out our sin. He heard 
us. But when He had blotted out our sins like a cloud, then 
we had more prayers for ourselves. We have had to pray for 
sanctifying grace, for constraining and restraining grace ; we 
have been led to crave for a fresh assurance of faith, for the 
comfortable application of the promise, for deliverance in the 
hour of temptation, for help in the time of duty, and for suc- 
cor in the day of trial. We have been compelled to go to 
God for our souls, as constant beggars asking for everything. 
Bear witness, children of God, you have never been able to 
get anything for your souls elsewhere. All the bread your 
soul has eaten has come down from heaven, and all the water 
of which it has drank has flowed from the living rock — Christ 
Jesus the Lord. Your soul has never grown rich in itself ; 
it has always been a pensioner upon the daily bounty of God ; 
and hence your prayers have ascended to heaven for a range 
of spiritual mercies all but infinite. Your wants were in- 
numerable, and therefore the supplies have been infinitely 
great, and your prayers have been as varied as the mercies 
have been countless. Then have you not cause to say, " I 
love the Lord, because He hath heard the voice of my sup- 
plication" ? For as your prayers have been many, so also 
have been God's answers to them. He has heard you in 
the day of trouble, has strengthened you, and helped you, 
even when you dishonored Him by trembling and doubting 
at the mercy-seat. Remember this, and let it fill your heart 
with gratitude to God, who has thus graciously heard your 
poor weak prayers. " Bless the Lord, my soul, and forget 
not all His benefits." 
4 



38 DALLY READINGS. Feb. 7. 

"Arise ye, and depart." — Micah ii. 10. 

fi@*SP?'GtHE hour is approaching when the message will come 
^j^jfe to us, as it comes to all — " Arise, and go forth from 
^^ the home in which thou hast dwelt, from the city in 
which thou hast done thy business, from thy family, from thy 
friends. Arise, and take thy last journey." And what know 
we of the journey? And what know we of the country to 
which we are bound ? A little we have read thereof, and 
somewhat has been revealed to us by the Spirit ; but how 
little do we know of the realms of the future ! We know 
that there is a black and stormy river called " Death." God 
bids us cross it, promising to be with us. And, after death, 
what cometh ? What wonder-world will open upon our as- 
tonished sight ? What scene of glory will be unfolded to our 
view ? No traveller has ever returned to tell. But we know 
enough of the heavenly land to make us welcome our sum- 
mons thither with joy and gladness. The journey of death 
may be dark, but we may go forth on it fearlessly, knowing 
that God is with us as we walk through the gloomy valley, 
and therefore we need fear no evil. We shall be departing 
from all we have known and loved here, but we shall be going 
to our Father's house — to our Father's home, where Jesus 
is — to that royal " city which hath foundations, whose builder 
and maker is God." This shall be our last removal, to dwell 
forever with Him we love, in the midst of His people, in 
the presence of God. Christian, meditate much on heaven ; 
it will help thee to press on, and to forget the toil of the 
way. This vale of tears is but the pathway to the better 
country; this world of woe is but the stepping-stone to a 
world of bliss. 

Prepare us, Lord, by grace divine, 
For Thy bright courts on high ; 
nen bid our spirits rise, and join 
The chorus of the sky." 




Feb. 8. DAILY READINGS. 39 

" Thou shalt call his name Jesus." — Matthew i. 21. 

JHEN a person is dear, everything connected with him 
ijcjoj becomes dear for his sake. Thus, so precious is the 
person of the Lord Jesus in the estimation of all true 
believers, that everything about Him they consider to be in- 
estimable beyond all price. " All thy garments smell of 
myrrh, and aloes, and cassia," said David, as if the very vest- 
ments of the Saviour were so sweetened by His person that 
he could not but love them. Certain it is, that there is not 
a spot where that hallowed foot hath trodden — there is not 
a word which those blessed lips have uttered — nor a thought 
which His loving Word has revealed — which is not to us 
precious beyond all price. And this is true of the names of 
Christ — they are all sweet in the believer's ear. Whether 
He be called the Husband of the Church, her Bridegroom, 
her Friend ; whether He be styled the Lamb slain from the 
foundation of the world — the King, the Prophet, or the 
Priest — every title of our Master — Shiloh, Emmanuel, 
Wonderful, the Mighty Counsellor — every name is like the 
honeycomb dropping with honey, and luscious are the drops 
that distil from it. But if there be one name sweeter than 
another in the believer's ear, it is the name of Jesus. Jesus ! 
it is the name which moves the harps of heaven to melody. 
Jesus ! the life of all our joys. If there be one name more 
charming, more precious than another, it is this name. It is 
woven into the very warp and woof of our psalmody. Many 
of our hymns begin with it, and scarcely any, that are good 
for anything, end without it. It is the sum total of all de- 
lights. It is the music with which the bells of heaven ring ; 
a song in a word ; an ocean for comprehension, although a 
drop for brevity ; a matchless oratorio in two syllables ; a 
gathering up of the hallelujahs of eternity in five letters. 

" Jesus, I love Thy charming name ; 
'Tis music to mine ear." 




40 DAILY READINGS. Feb. 9. 

"And David inquired of the Lord." — 2 Samuel v. 23. 

■ 4 HEN David made this inquiry he had just fought the 
Philistines, and gained a signal victory. The Philis- 
tines came up in great hosts, but, by the help of (rod, 
David had easily put them to flight. Note, however, that 
when they came a second time, David did not go up to fight 
them without inquiring of the Lord. Once he had been vic- 
torious, and he might have said, as many have in other cases, 
" I shall be victorious again ; I may rest quite sure that if I 
have conquered once, I shall triumph yet again. Wherefore 
should I tarry to seek at the Lord's hands ? " Not so David. 
He had gained one battle by the strength of the Lord ; he 
would not venture upon another until he had insured the 
same. He inquired, " Shall I go up against them ? " He 
waited until God's sign was given. Learn from David to take 
no step without God. Christian, if thou wouldst know the 
path of duty, take God for thy compass ; if thou wouldst steer 
thy ship through the dark billows, put the tiller into the hand 
of the Almighty. Many a rock might be escaped, if we would 
let our Father take the helm ; many a shoal or quicksand we 
might well avoid, if we would leave to His sovereign will to 
choose and to command. The Puritan said, " As sure as 
ever a Christian carves for himself, he'll cut his own fingers ; " 
this is a great truth. Said another old divine, " He that goes 
before the cloud of God's providence goes on a fool's errand; " 
and so he does. We must mark God's providence leading 
us ; and if providence tarries, tarry till providence comes. 
He who goes before providence, will be very glad to run 
back again. " I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way 
which thou shalt go," is God's promise to His people. Let 
us, then, take all our perplexities to Him, and say, " Lord, 
what wilt thou have me to do ? " Leave not thy chamber 
this morning without inquiring of the Lord. 



Feb. 10. DAILY HEADINGS. 41 

"J know how to abound." — Philippians iv. 12. 

flgp^HERE are many who know "how to be abased," who 
^yWI naye not l earn ed " how to abound." When they are set 
^**^ upon the top of a pinnacle their heads grow dizzy, and 
they are ready to fall. The Christian far oftener disgraces his 
profession in prosperity than in adversity. It is a dangerous 
thing to be prosperous. The crucible of adversity is a less 
severe trial to the Christian than the fining-pot of prosperity. 
Oh, what leanness of soul and neglect of spiritual things have 
been brought on through the very mercies and bounties of 
God ! Yet this is not a matter of necessity, for the apostle 
tells us that he knew how to abound. When he had much he 
knew how to use it. Abundant grace enabled him to bear 
abundant prosperity. When he had a full sail he was loaded 
with much ballast, and so floated safely. It needs more than 
human skill to carry the brimming cup of mortal joy with a 
steady hand ; yet Paul had learned that skill, for he declares, 
" In all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hun- 
gry." It is a divine lesson to know how to be full, for the 
Israelites were full once ; but while the flesh was yet in their 
mouth, the wrath of God came upon them. Many have asked 
for mercies that they might satisfy their own hearts' lust. Ful- 
ness of bread has often made fulness of blood, and that has 
brought on wantonness of spirit. When we have much of God's 
providential mercies, it often happens that we have but little 
of God's grace, and little gratitude for the bounties we have 
received. We are full, and we forget God : satisfied with earth, 
we are content to do without heaven. Rest assured it is harder 
to know how to be full than it is to know how to be hungry — 
so desperate is the tendency of human nature to pride and for- 
getfulness of God. Take care tfcat you ask in your prayers 
that God would teach you " how to be full." 
*' Let not the gifts Thy love hestows 
Estrange our hearts from Thee." 
4 * 



42 DAILY READINGS. Feb. 11. 

" And they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus" 
Acts iv. 13. 

gj CHRISTIAN should be a striking likeness of Jesus 
t® Christ. You have read lives of Christ, beautifully 



^ and eloquently written ; but the best life of Christ is 
His living biography, written out in the words and actions of 
His people. If we were what we profess to be, and what we 
should be, we should be pictures of Christ ; yea, such striking 
likenesses of Him, that the world would not have to hold us up 
by the hour together, and say, " Well, it seems somewhat of a 
likeness ; " but they would, when they once beheld us, exclaim, 
" He has been with Jesus ; he has been taught of Him ; he is 
like Him ; he has caught the very idea of the holy Man of Naz- 
areth, and he works it out in his life and every-day actions." 
A Christian should be like Christ in his boldness. Never blush 
to own your religion ; your profession will never disgrace 
you : take care you never disgrace that. Be like Jesus — 
very valiant for your God. Imitate Him in your loving spirit ; 
think kindly, speak kindly, and do kindly, that men may say 
of you, "He has been with Jesus." Imitate Jesus in His 
holiness. Was He zealous for His Master ? So be you ; ever 
go about doing good. Let not time be wasted : it is too 
precious. Was He self-denying, never looking to His own 
interest ? Be the same. Was He devout ? Be you fervent in 
your prayers. Had He deference to His Father's will? So 
submit yourselves to Him. Was He patient ? So learn to en- 
dure. And best of all, as the highest portraiture of Jesus, try 
to forgive your enemies, as He did ; and let those sublime words 
of your Master, " Father, forgive them ; for they know not 
what they do," always ring in your ears. Forgive, as you 
hope to be forgiven. Heap coals of fire on the head of your 
foe by your kindness to him. Good for evil, recollect, is god- 
like. Be godlike, then ; and in all ways and by all means, so 
live that all may say of you, " He has been with Jesus." 




Feb. 12. DAILY HEADINGS. 43 

" For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation 
also aboundeth by Christ." — 2 Corinthians i. 5. 

JERE is a blessed proportion. The Ruler of providence 
jg bears a pair of scales — in this side He puts His peo- 
- c pie's trials, and in that He puts their consolations. 
When the scale of trial is nearly empty, you will always find 
the scale of consolation in nearly the same condition ; and 
when the scale of trials is full, you will find the scale of con- 
solation just as heavy. When the black clouds gather most, 
the light is the more brightly revealed to us. When the night 
lowers and the tempest is coming on, the Heavenly Captain is 
always closest to His crew. It is a blessed thing, that when 
we are most cast down, then it is that we are most lifted up by 
the consolations of the Spirit. One reason is, because trials 
make more room for consolation. Great hearts can only be made 
by great troubles. The spade of trouble digs the reservoir of 
comfort deeper, and makes more room for consolation. God 
comes into our heart — He finds it full — He begins to break 
our comforts and to make it empty; then there is more room 
for grace. The humbler a man lies, the more comfort he will 
always have, because he will be more fitted to receive it. An- 
other reason why we are often most happy in our troubles, is 
this — then we have the closest dealings with God. When the 
barn is full, man can live without God : when the purse is burst- 
ing with gold, we try to do without so much prayer. But once 
take our gourds away, and we want our God; once cleanse the 
idols out of the house, then we are compelled to honor Je- 
hovah. " Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, Lord." 
There is no cry so good as that which comes from the bottom 
of the mountains ; no prayer half so hearty as that which comes 
up from the depths of the soul, through deep trials and afflic- 
tions. Hence they bring us to God, and we are happier ; for 
nearness to God is happiness. Come, troubled believer, fret 
not over your heavy troubles, for they are the heralds of 
weighty mercies. 



44 DAILY READINGS. Feb. 13. 

"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, 
that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world 
knoweth us not, because it knew Him not. Beloved, now are 
we the sons of God" — 1 John iii. 1, 2. 






^EHOLD, what manner of love the Father hath be- 
stowed upon us. Consider who we were, and what 
we feel ourselves to be even now when corruption is 
powerful in us, and you will wonder at our adoption. Yet we 
are called " the sons of God. 71 What a high relationship is that 
of a son, and what privileges it brings ! What care and ten- 
derness the son expects from his father, and what love the fa- 
ther feels towards the son ! But all that, and more than that, 
we now have through Christ. As for the temporary drawback 
of suffering with the elder brother, this we accept as an honor : 
" Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him 
not." We are content to be unknown with Him in His hu- 
miliation, for we are to be exalted with Him. "Beloved, now 
are we the sons of God" That is easy to read, but it is not 
so easy to feel. How is it with your heart this morning ? Are 
you in the lowest depths of sorrow ? Does corruption rise 
within your spirit, and grace seem like a poor spark trampled 
under foot ? Does your faith almost fail you ? Fear not, it 
is neither your graces nor feelings on which you are to live : 
you must live simply by faith on Christ. With all these 
things against us, now — in the very depths of our sorrow, 
wherever we may be — now, as much in the valley as on the 
mountain, " Beloved, now are we the sons of Grod." " Ah, 
but," you say, " see how I am arrayed ! my graces are not 
bright ; my righteousness does not shine with apparent glory." 
But read the next : "It doth not yet appear what we shall be : 
but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him." 
The Holy Spirit shall purify our minds, and divine power 
shall refine our bodies ; then shall we see Him as He is. 



Feb. 14. DAILY READINGS. 45 

"And his allowance was a continual allowance given him of the 

king, a daily rate for every day, all the days of his life" 

2 Kings xxv. 30. 

^^I^EHOIACHIM was not sent away from the king's pal- 

P9 ; 1 m ace w ^ a store to ^ asfc ^ m *" or montns » Dut hi* 3 P r °- 
K^pUs vision was given him as a daily pension. Herein he 
well pictures the happy position of all the Lord's people. A 
daily portion is all that a man really wants. We do not need 
to-morrow's supplies — that day has not yet dawned, and its 
wants are as yet unborn. The thirst which we may suffer in 
the month of June does not need to be quenched in Febru- 
ary, for we do not feel it yet ; if we have enough for each 
day as the days arrive we shall never know want. Sufficient 
for the day is all that we can enjoy. We cannot eat or drink 
or wear more than the day's supply of food and raiment ; the 
surplus gives us the care of storing it, and the anxiety of 
watching against a thief. One staff aids a traveller, but a 
bundle of staves is a heavy burden. Enough is not only as 
good as a feast, but is all that the veriest glutton can truly 
enjoy. This is all thai we should expect ; a craving for more 
than this is ungrateful. When our Father does not give us 
more, we should be content with his daily allowance. Je- 
hoiachim's case is ours ; we have a sure portion, a portion 
given us of the king, a gracious portion, and & perpetual por- 
tion. Here is surely ground for thankfulness. 

Beloved Christian reader, in matters of grace you need a 
daily supply. You have no store of strength. Day by day 
must you seek help from above. It is a very sweet assurance 
that a daily portion is provided for you. In the word, through 
the ministry, by meditation, in prayer, and waiting upon Grod 
you shall receive renewed strength. In Jesus all needful 
things are laid up for you. Then enjoy your continual allow- 
ance. Never go hungry while the daily bread of grace is on 
the table of mercy. 



m 



46 DAILY READINGS. Feb. 15. 

" To Him be glory both now and forever." — 2 Peter iii. 18. 

pE AVEN will be full of the ceaseless praises of Jesus. 

Mk Eternity ! thine unnumbered years shall speed their 
everlasting course, but forever and forever, " to Him 
be glory." Is He not a " Priest forever, after the order of 
Melchisedek ? " " To Him be glory." Is He not King for- 
ever? — King of kings and Lord of lords, the everlasting 
Father ? "To Him be glory forever." Never shall His 
praises cease. That which was bought with blood deserves 
to last while immortality endures. The glory of the cross 
must never be eclipsed ; the lustre of the grave and of the 
resurrection must never be dimmed. ' O Jesus ! thou shalt 
be praised forever. Long as immortal spirits live — long as 
the Father's throne endures — forever, forever, unto Thee 
shall be glory. Believer, you are anticipating the time when 
you shall join the saints above in ascribing all glory to Jesus ; 
but are you glorifying Him now ? The apostle's words are, 
" To Him be glory both now and forever." Will you not this 
day make it your prayer ? " Lord, help me to glorify Thee. 
I am poor ; help me to glorify Thee by contentment. I am 
sick ; help me to give Thee honor by patience. I have talents ; 
help me to extol Thee by spending them for Thee. I have 
time ; Lord, help me to redeem it, that I may serve Thee. I 
have a heart to feel ; Lord, let that heart feel no love but 
Thine, and glow with no flame but affection for Thee. I have 
a head to think ; Lord, help me to think of Thee and/or Thee. 
Thou hast put me in this world for something ; Lord, show me 
what that is, and help me to work out my life-purpose. I 
cannot do much ; but as the widow put in her two mites, 
which were all her living, so, Lord, I cast my time and eter- 
nity too into Thy treasury. I am all Thine ; take me, and 
enable me to glorify Thee now, in all that I say, in all that 
I do, and with all that I have." 



Feb. 16. DAILY HEADINGS. 47 

" i" have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content" 
Philippians iv. 11. 

~ - JjHESE words show us that contentment is not a natural 
» propensity of man. " 111 weeds grow apace." Cov- 
etousness, discontent, and murmuring, are as natural 
to man as thorns are to the soil. We need not sow thistles and 
brambles ; they come up naturally enough, because they are 
indigenous to earth : and so, we need not teach men to com- 
plain ; they complain fast enough without any education. But 
the precious things of the earth must be cultivated. If we 
would have wheat, we must plough and sow ; if we want flowers, 
there must be the garden, and all the gardener's care. Now, 
contentment is one of the flowers of heaven, and if we would 
have it, it must be cultivated ; it will not grow in us by na- 
ture ; it is the new nature alone that can produce it, and even 
then we must be specially careful and watchful that we main- 
tain and cultivate the grace which God has sown in us. Paul 
says, " I have learned . . to be content ; " as much as to 
say, he did not know how at one time. It cost him some pains 
to attain to the mystery of that great truth. No doubt he 
sometimes thought he had learned, and then broke down. 
And when at last he had attained unto it, and could say, "I 
have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be con- 
tent," he was an old, gray-headed man, upon the borders of 
the grave — a poor prisoner shut up in Nero's dungeon at 
Rome. We might well be willing to endure Paul's infirmities, 
and share the cold dungeon with him. if we too might by 
any means attain unto his good degree. Do not indulge the 
notion that you can be contented without learning, or learn 
without discipline. It is not a power that may be exercised 
naturally, but a science to be acquired gradually. We know 
this from experience. Brother, hush that murmur, natural 
though it be, and continue a diligent pupil in the College of 
Content. 



48 DAILY HEADINGS. Feb. 17. 

"Isaac dwelt by the well Lahai-roi" — Genesis xxv. 11. 

Pgg^jAGAR had once found deliverance there, and Ishmael 
HS^^k na d drank from the water so graciously revealed by 
^^^ the God who liveth and seeth the sons of men ; but 
this was a merely casual visit, such as worldlings pay to the 
Lord in times of need, when it serves their turn. They cry 
to Him in trouble, but forsake Him in prosperity. Isaac 
dwelt there, and made the well of the living and all-seeing 
God his constant source of supply. The usual tenor of a 
man's life, the dwelling of his soul, is the true test of his 
state. Perhaps the providential visitation experienced by 
Hagar struck Isaac's mind, and led him to revere the place ; 
its mystical name endeared it to him ; his frequent musings 
by its brim at eventide made him familiar with the well ; his 
meeting Rebecca there had made his spirit feel at home near 
the spot ; but best of all, the fact that he there enjoyed fel- 
lowship with the living God, had made him select that hal- 
lowed ground for his dwelling. Let us learn to live in the 
presence of the living God ; let us pray the Holy Spirit that 
this day, and every other day, we may feel, " Thou God 
seest me." May the Lord Jehovah be as a well to us, de- 
lightful, comforting, unfailing, springing up unto eternal life. 
The bottle of the creature cracks and dries up, but the well.of 
the Creator never fails ; happy is he who dwells at the well, 
and so has abundant and constant supplies near at hand. The 
Lord has been a sure helper to others : His name is Shaddai, 
God All-sufficient ; our hearts have often had most delightful 
intercourse with Him ; through Him our soul has found her 
glorious Husband, the Lord Jesus ; and in Him this day we 
live, and move, and have our being ; let us, then, dwell in 
closest fellowship with Him. Glorious Lord, constrain us 
that we may never leave Thee, but dwell by the well of the 
living God. 




Feb. 18. DAILY READINGS. 49 

" Show me wherefore thou contendest with me." — Job x. 2. 

^jgERHAPS, tried soul, the Lord is doing this to 
lo develop thy graces. There are some of thy graces 
which would never be discovered if it were not for 
thy trials. Dost thou not know that thy faith never looks 
so grand in summer weather as it does in winter ? Love is 
too often like a glow-worm, showing but little light except 
it be in the midst of surrounding darkness. Hope itself is 
like a star — not to be seen in the sunshine of prosperity, 
and only to be discovered in the night of adversity. Afflic- 
tions are often the black foils in which God doth set the 
jewels of His children's graces, to make them shine the better. 
It was but a little while ago that, on thy knees, thou wast 
saying, " Lord, I fear I have no faith : let me know that I 
have faith." Was not this really, though perhaps uncon- 
sciously, praying for trials ? — for how canst thou know that 
thou hast faith until thy faith is exercised ? Depend upon it, 
God often sends us trials that our graces may be discovered, 
and that we may be certified of their existence. Besides, it 
is not merely discovery ; real growth in grace is the result of 
sanctified trials. God often takes away our comforts and our 
privileges in order to make us better Christians. He trains 
His soldiers, not in tents of ease and luxury, but by turning 
them out and using them to forced marches and hard service. 
He makes them ford through streams, and swim through rivers, 
and climb mountains, and walk many a long mile with heavy 
knapsacks of sorrow on their backs. Well, Christian, may 
not this account for the troubles through which thou art passing ? 
Is not the Lord bringing out your graces, and making them 
grow ? Is not this the reason why He is contending with you ? 

" Trials make the promise sweet; 
Trials give new life to prayer ; 
Trials bring me to His feet, 

Lay me low, and keep me there." 
5 




50 DAILY HEADINGS. Feb. 19. 

" Thus saith the Lord God : I will yet for this be inquired of by 
the house of Israel, to do it for them" — Ezek. xxxvi. 37. 

HRAYER is the forerunner of mercy. Jurn to sacred 
history, and you will find that scarcely ever did a 
great mercy come to this world unheralded by sup- 
plication. You have found this true in your own personal 
experience. God has .given you many an unsolicited favor, 
but still great prayer has always been the prelude of great 
mercy with you. When you first found peace through the 
blood of the cross, you had been praying much, and earnestly 
interceding with God that He would remove your doubts, and 
deliver you from your distresses. Your assurance was the re- 
sult of prayer. When at any time you have had high and rap- 
turous joys, you have been obliged to look upon them as an- 
swers to your prayers. When you have had great deliverances 
out of sore troubles, and mighty helps in great dangers, you 
have been able to say, " I sought the Lord, and He heard me, 
and delivered me from all my fears." Prayer is always the 
preface to blessing. It goes before the blessing as the blessing's 
shadoiu. When the sunlight of God's mercies rises upon our 
necessities, it casts the shadow of prayer far down upon the 
plain. Or, to use another illustration, when God piles up a 
hill of mercies, He Himself shines behind them, and He casts 
on our spirits the shadow of prayer, so that we may rest cer- 
tain, if we are much in prayer, our pleadings are the shadows of 
mercy. Prayer is thus connected with the blessing to show us 
the value of it. If we had the blessings without asking for 
them, we should think them common things ; but prayer makes 
our mercies more precious than diamonds. The things we ask 
for are precious, but we do not realize their preciousness until 
we have sought for them earnestly. 

" Prayer makes the darkened cloud withdraw; 

Prayer climbs the ladder Jacob saw ; 

Gives exercise to faith and love ; 

Brings every blessing from above." 



Feb. 20. DAILY READINGS. 51 

" God, that comfort eth those that are cast doicn." — 2 Cor. vii. 6. 

;^ND who comforteth like Him ? Go to some poor, 
;_$> melancholy, distressed child of God : tell him sweet 
^^ promises, and whisper in his ear choice words of com- 
fort : he is like the deaf adder ; he listens not to the voice of 
the charmer, charm he never so wisely. He is drinking gall 
and wormwood, and comfort him as you may, it will be only 
a note or two of mournful resignation that you will get from 
him ; you will bring forth no psalms of praise, no hallelujahs, 
no joyful sonnets. But let God come to His child, let Him 
lift up his countenance, and the mourner's eyes glisten with 
hope. Do you not hear him sing — 

" Tis paradise, if Thou art here ; 
If Thou depart, 'tis hell " ? 

You could not have cheered him : but the Lord has done it ; 
" He is the God of all comfort." There is no balm in Gilead, 
but there is balm in God. There is no physician among the 
creatures, but the Creator is Jehovah-rophi. It is marvel- 
lous how one sweet word of God will make whole songs for 
Christians. One word of God is like a piece of gold, and 
the Christian is the goldbeater, and can hammer that promise 
out for whole weeks. So, then, poor Christian, thou needest 
not sit down in despair. Go to the Comforter, and ask Him 
to give thee consolation. Thou art a poor dry well. You 
have heard it said, that when a pump is dry, you must pour 
water down it first of all, and then you will get water ; and 
so, Christian, when thou art dry, go to God, ask Him to shed 
abroad His joy in thy heart, and then thy joy shall be full. 
Do not go to earthly acquaintances, for you will find them 
Job's comforters after all ; but go first and foremost to thy 
" God, that comforteth those that are cast down," and you 
will soon say, " In the multitude of my thoughts within me 
Thy comforts delight my soul." 



52 DAILY HEADINGS. Feb. 21. 

" He hath said" — Hebrews xiii. 5. 

'$jF we can only grasp these words by faith, we have an 
all-conquering weapon in our hand. What doubt will 
not be slain by this two-edged sword ? What fear 
is there which shall not fall smitten with a deadly wound be- 
fore this arrow from the bow of (rod's covenant ? Will not 
the distresses of life, and the pangs of death ; will not the 
corruptions within, and the snares without ; will not the trials 
from above, and the temptations from beneath, all seem but 
light afflictions, when we can hide ourselves beneath the bul- 
wark of " He hath said " ? Yes ; whether for delight in our 
quietude, or for strength in our conflict, "He hath said" 
must be our daily resort. And this may teach us the ex- 
treme value of searching the Scriptures. There may be a 
promise in the Word which would exactly fit your case, but 
you may not know of it, and therefore you miss its comfort. 
You are like prisoners in a dungeon, and there may be one 
key in the bunch which would unlock the door, and you 
might be free ; but if you will not look for it, you may remain 
a prisoner still, though liberty is so near at hand. There 
may be a potent medicine in the great pharmacopoeia of 
Scripture, and you may yet continue sick unless you will ex- 
amine and search the Scriptures to discover what " He hath 
said." Should you not, besides reading the Bible, store your 
memories richly with the promises of Grod ? You can recol- 
lect the sayings of great men ; you treasure up the verses of 
renowned poets ; ought you not to be profound in your 
knowledge of the words of Grod, so that you may be able to 
quote them readily when you wo'uld solve a difficulty, or over- 
throw a doubt r Since " He hath said," is the source of all 
wisdom, and the fountain of all comfort, let it dwell in you 
richly as "a well of water, springing up into everlasting 
life." 43o shall you grow healthy, strong, and happy in the 
divine life. 




Feb. 22. DAILY READINGS. 53 

"Mis bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made 
strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob." — Gen. xlix. 24. 

JggHAT strength which God gives to His Josephs is 
real strength ; it is not a boasted valor, a fiction, a 
thing of which men talk, but which ends in smoke ; it 
is true — divine strength. Why does Joseph stand against 
temptation ? Because God gives him aid. There is nought 
that we can do without the power of God. All true strength 
comes from " the mighty God of Jacob." Notice in what a 
blessedly familiar way God gives this strength to Joseph — 
" The arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the 
mighty God of Jacob." Thus God is represented as putting 
His hands on Joseph's hands, placing His arms on Joseph's 
arms. Like as a father teaches his children, so the Lord 
teaches them that fear Him. He puts His arms upon them. 
Marvellous condescension ! God Almighty, Eternal, Omnipo- 
tent, stoops from His throne and lays His hand upon the 
child's hand, stretching His arm upon the arm of Joseph, that 
he may be made strong ! This strength was also covenant 
strength, for it is ascribed to " the mighty God of Jacob." 
Now, wherever you read of the God of Jacob in the Bible, you 
should remember the covenant with Jacob. Christians love 
to think of God's covenant. All the power, all the grace, all 
the blessings, all the mercies, all the comforts, all the things 
we have, flow to us from the well-head, through the covenant. 
If there were no covenant, then we should fail indeed ; for 
all grace proceeds from it, as light and heat from the sun. 
No angels ascend or descend, save upon that ladder which 
Jacob saw, at the top of which stood a covenant God. 
Christian, it maybe that the archers have sorely grieved you, 
and shot at you, and wounded you, but still your bow abides 
in strength ; be sure, then, to ascribe all the glory to Jacob's 
God. 

5* 



54 DAILY readings. Feb. 23. 

" I will never leave thee." — Hebrews xiii. 5. 
(?1^X$0 promise is of private interpretation. Whatever 

§1 %\i ^ oc * ^ as sa ^ to an y one sa ^ nt ' ^ e nas sa ^ to a ^- 

/A\&K "vy^en g e opens a well for one, it is that all may 
drink. When He openeth a granary-door to give out food, 
there may be some one starving man who is the occasion of 
its being opened, but all hungry saints may come and feed 
too. Whether He gave the word to Abraham or to Moses, 
matters not, believer ; He has given it to thee as one of 
the covenanted seed. There is not a high blessing too 
lofty for thee, nor a wide mercy too extensive for thee. 
Lift up now thine eyes to the north and to the south, to the 
east and to the west, for all this is thine. Climb to Pisgah's 
top, and view the utmost limit of the divine promise, for the 
land is all thine own. There is not a brook of living water 
of which thou mayst not drink. If the land floweth with 
milk and honey, eat the honey and drink the milk, for both 
are thine. Be thou bold to believe, for He hath said, " I 
will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." In this promise, 
God gives to His people everything, "/will never leave thee." 
Then no attribute of God can cease to be engaged for us. Is 
He mighty ? He will show Himself strong on the behalf of 
them that trust Him. Is He love ? Then with loving kind- 
ness will He have mercy upon us. Whatever attributes may 
compose the character of Deity, every one of them to its 
fullest extent shall be engaged on our side. To put every- 
thing in one, there is nothing you can want, there is nothing 
you can ask for, there is nothing you can need in time or in 
eternity, there is nothing living, nothing dying, there is noth- 
ing in this world, nothing in the next world, there is noth- 
ing now, nothing at the resurrection-morning, nothing in 
heaven which is not contained in this text — " I will never 
leave thee, nor forsake thee." 




Feb. 24. DAILY READINGS. 55 

" I will cause the shower to come down in his season: there shall 
be showers of blessing." — Ezekiel xxxiv. 26. 

PERE is sovereign mercy — "I will give them the 
shower in its season." Is it not sovereign, divine 
mercy ? — for who can say, " I will give them showers," 
except God ? There is only one voice which can speak to the 
clouds, and bid them beget the rain. Who sendeth down the 
rain upon the earth ? Who scattereth the showers upon the 
green herb ? Do not I, the Lord ? So grace is the gift of 
God, and is not to be created by man. It is also needed 
grace. What would the ground do without showers ? You 
may break the clods, you may sow your seeds, but what can 
you do without the rain ? As absolutely needful is the divine 
blessing. In vain you labor, until God the plenteous shower 
bestows, and sends salvation down. Then, it is plenteous grace. 
" I will send them showers." It does not say, " I will send 
them drops," but " showers." So it is with grace. If God 
gives a blessing, He usually gives it in such a measure that 
there is not room enough to receive it. Plenteous grace ! 
Ah ! we want plenteous grace to keep us humble, to make us 
prayerful, to make us holy ; plenteous grace to make us zeal- 
ous, to preserve us through this life, and at last to land us in 
heaven. We cannot do without saturating showers of grace. 
Again, it is seasonable grace. " I will cause the shower to come 
down in his season." What is thy season this morning ? Is it 
the season of drought ? Then that is the season for showers. 
Is it a season of great heaviness and black clouds ? Then that 
is the season for showers. " As thy day, so shall thy strength 
be." And here is a varied, blessing. " I will give thee showers 
of blessing." The word is in the plural. All kinds of blessings 
God will send. All God's blessings go together, like links in 
a golden chain. If He gives converting grace, He will also 
give comforting grace. He will send " showers of blessing." 
Look up to-day, parched plant, and open thy leaves and 
flowers for a heavenly watering. 




56 DAILY headings. Feb. 25. 

" The wrath to come." — Matthew iii. 7. 

vT is pleasant to pass over a country after a storm has 
^j spent itself; to smell the freshness of the herbs after 
the rain has passed away, and to note the drops while 
they glisten like purest diamonds in the sunlight. That is the 
position of a Christian. He is going through a land where 
the storm has spent itself upon his Saviour's head, and if 
there be a few drops of sorrow falling, they distil from clouds 
of mercy, and Jesus cheers him by the assurance that they are 
not for his destruction. But how terrible is it to witness the 
approach of a tempest ; to note the forewarnings of the storm ; 
to mark the birds of heaven as they droop their wings ; to see 
the cattle as they lay their heads low in terror ; to discern the 
face of the sky as it groweth black, and look to the sun which 
shineth not, and the heavens which are angry and frowning ! 
How terrible to await the dread advance of a hurricane — such 
as occurs, sometimes, in the tropics — to wait in terrible ap- 
prehension till the wind shall rush forth in fury, tearing up 
trees from their roots, forcing rocks from their pedestals, and 
hurling down all the dwelling-places of man ! And yet, sin- 
ner, this is your present position. No hot drops have as yet 
fallen, but a shower of fire is coming. No terrible winds 
howl around you, but G-od's tempest is gathering its dread 
artillery. As yet the water-floods are dammed up by mercy, 
but the flood-gates shall soon be opened ; the thunderbolts 
of G-od are yet in His storehouse, but lo ! the tempest hastens, 
and how awful shall that moment be when God, robed in 
vengeance, shall march forth in fury ! Where, where, where, 
O sinner, wilt thou hide thy head, or whither wilt thou flee ? 
that the hand of mercy may now lead you to Christ ! He 
is freely set before you in the gospel : His riven side is the 
rock of shelter. Thou knowest thy need of Him ; believe in 
Him, cast thyself upon Him, and then the fury shall be over- 
past forever. 




Feb. 26. DAILY READINGS. 57 

"Salvation is of the Lord." — Jonah ii. 9. 

SALVATION is the work of God. It is He alone who 
quickens the soul "dead in trespasses and sins," and 
it is He also who maintains the soul in its spiritual 
life. He is both "Alpha and Omega." " Salvation is of the 
Lord." If I am prayerful, God makes me prayerful ; if I 
have graces, they are God's gift to me ; if I hold on in a con- 
sistent life, it is because He upholds me with His hand. I do 
nothing whatever towards my own preservation, except what 
God himself first does in me. Whatever I have, all my good- 
ness, is of the Lord alone. Wherein I sin, that is my own ; 
but wherein I act rightly, that is of God, wholly and com- 
pletely. If I have repulsed a spiritual enemy, the Lord's 
strength nerved my arm. Do I live before men a consecrated 
life ? It is not I, but Christ who liveth in me. Am I sanc- 
tified ? I did not cleanse myself: God's Holy Spirit sanctifies 
me. Am I weaned from the world ? I am weaned by GooVs 
chastisements sanctified to my good. Do I grow in knowl- 
edge ? The great Instructor teaches me. All my jewels 
were fashioned by heavenly art. I find in God all that I 
want ; but I find in myself nothing but sin and misery. "He 
only is my rock and my salvation." Do I feed on the Word? 
That Word would be no food for me unless the Lord made 
it food for my soul, and helped me to feed upon it. Do I 
live on the manna which comes down from heaven ? What 
is that manna but Jesus Christ himself incarnate, whose body 
and whose blood I eat and drink ? Am I continually re- 
ceiving fresh increase of strength ? Where do I gather my 
might ? My help cometh from heaven's hills : without Jesus 
I can do nothing. As a branch cannot bring forth fruit ex- 
cept it abide in the vine, no more can I, except I abide in 
Him. What Jonah learned in the great deep, let me learn 
this morning in my closet: " Salvation is of the Lord." 




58 daily readings. Feb. 27. 

"Thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most 
High, thy habitatio?^ — Psalm xci. 9. 

jfi^g^HE Israelites in the wilderness were continually ex- 
posed to change. Whenever the pillar stayed its 
motion, the tents were pitched ; but to-morrow, ere 
the morning sun had risen, the trumpet sounded, the ark 
was in motion, and the fiery, cloudy pillar was leading the 
way through the narrow defiles of the mountain, up the hill- 
side, or along the arid waste of the wilderness. They had 
scarcely time to rest a little before they heard the sound of 
"Away ! this is not your rest ; you must still be onward 
journeying towards Canaan ! " They were never long in 
one place. Even wells and palm trees could not detain 
them. Yet they had an abiding home in their God ; His 
cloudy pillar was their roof-tree, and its flame by night their 
household fire. They must go onward from place to place, 
continually changing, never having time to settle, and to 
say, " Now we are secure ; in this place we shall dwell." 
" Yet," says Moses, " though we are always changing, Lord, 
thou hast been our dwelling-place throughout all genera- 
tions." The Christian knows no change with regard to 
God. He may be rich to-day and poor to-morrow ; he may 
be sickly to-day and well to-morrow ; he may be in happi- 
ness to-day, to-morrow he may be distressed — but there is 
no change with regard to his relationship to God. If He 
loved me yesterday, He loves me to-day. My unmoving 
mansion of rest is my blessed Lord. Let prospects be 
blighted; let hopes be blasted; let joy be withered; let 
mildews destroy everything ; I have lost nothing of what I 
have in God. He is " my strong habitation whereunto I can 
continually resort." I am a pilgrim in the world, but at 
home in my God. In the earth I wander, but in God I 
dwell in a quiet habitation. 



Feb. 28. DAILY HEADINGS. 59 

"My expectation is from Him." — Psalm lxii. 5. 

'WT is the believer's privilege to use tliis language. If 
^ he is looking for aught from the world, it is a poor 
^ " expectation" indeed. But if he looks to God for 
the supply of his wants, whether in temporal or spiritual 
blessings, his " expectation " will not be a vain one. Con- 
stantly he may draw from the bank of faith, and get his 
need supplied out of the riches of God's loving kindness. 
This I know, I had rather have God for my banker than all 
the Rothschilds. My Lord never fails to honor His promises ; 
and when we bring them to His throne, He never sends 
them back unanswered. Therefore I will wait only at His 
door, for He ever opens it with the hand of munificent grace. 
At this hour I will try Him anew. But we have " expecta- 
tions " beyond this life. We shall die soon ; and then our 
" expectation is from Him." Do we not expect that when 
we lie upon the bed of sickness He will send angels to carry 
us to His bosom ? We believe that when the pulse is faint, 
and the heart heaves heavily, some angelic messenger shall 
stand and look with loving eyes upon us, and whisper, " Sis- 
ter spirit, come away ! " As we approach the heavenly gate, 
we expect to hear the welcome invitation, " Come, ye blessed 
of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the 
foundation of the world." We are expecting harps of gold 
and crowns of glory ; we are hoping soon to be amongst the 
multitude of shining ones before the throne ; we are looking 
forward and longing for the time when we shall be like our 
glorious Lord — for "we shall see Him as He is." Then if 
these be thine " expectations," my soul, live for God ; 
live with the desire and resolve to glorify Him from whom 
cometh all thy supplies, and of whose grace in thy election, 
redemption, and calling, it is that thou hast any " expecta- 
tion " of coming glory. 



60 daily headings. Feb. 29. 

" With loving kindness have I drawn thee." — Jer. xxxi. 3. 

J^SHE thunders of the law and the terrors of judgment 
are all used to bring us to Christ ; but the final vic- 
tory is effected by loving kindness. The prodigal set 
out to his father's house from a sense of need ; but his father 
saw him a great way off, and ran to meet him ; so that the last 
steps he took towards his father's house were with the kiss still 
warm upon his cheek, and the welcome still musical in his ears. 

" Law and terrors do but harden 
All the while they work alone ; 
But a sense of blood-bought pardon 
Will dissolve a heart of stone." 

The Master came one night to the door, and knocked with 
the iron hand of the law ; the door shook and trembled upon 
its hinges ; but the man piled every piece of furniture which 
he could find against the door, for he said, " I will not ad- 
mit the man." The Master turned away, but by-and-by He 
came back, and with His own soft hand, using most that 
part where the nail had penetrated, he knocked again — oh, 
so softly and tenderly. This time the door did not shake, 
but, strange to say, it opened, and there upon his knees the 
once unwilling host was found rejoicing to receive his guest. 
" Come in, come in ; thou hast so knocked that my bowels 
are moved for thee. I could not think of thy pierced hand 
leaving its blood-mark on my door, and of thy going away 
houseless, ' Thy head filled with dew, and thy locks with the 
drops of the night.' I yield, I yield. Thy love has won my 
heart." So in every case : loving kindness wins the day. 
What Moses with the tablets of stone could never do, Christ 
does with His pierced hand. Such is the doctrine of effectual 
calling. Do I understand it experimentally ? Can I say, " He 
drew me, and I followed on, glad to confess the voice divine " ? 
If so, may He continue to draw me, till at last I shall sit 
down at the marriage supper of the Lamb. 




March 1. daily readings. 61 

"Awake, north wind ; and come, thou south ; blow upon my gar- 
den, that the spices thereof may flow out." — Canticles iv. 16. 

ANYTHING- is better than the dead calm of indiffer- 
ence. Our souls may wisely desire the north wind 
of trouble if that alone can be sanctified to the draw- 
ing forth of the perfume of our graces. So long as it cannot 
be said, " The Lord was not in the wind," we will not shrink 
from the most wintry blast that ever blew upon plants of 
grace. Did not the spouse in this verse humbly submit her- 
self to the reproofs of her Beloved; only entreating Him to 
send forth His grace in some form, and making no stipulation 
as to the peculiar manner in which it should come ? Did not 
she, like ourselves, become so utterly weary of deadness and 
unholy calm that she sighed for any visitation which would 
brace her to action ? Yet she desires the warm south wind 
of comfort, too, the smiles of divine love, the joy of the Re- 
deemer's presence ; these are often mightily effectual to arouse 
our sluggish life. She desires either one or the other, or 
both ; so that she may but be able to delight her Beloved 
with the spices of her garden. She cannot endure to be un- 
profitable, nor can we. How cheering a thought that Jesus 
can find comfort in our poor feeble graces ! Can it be ? It 
seems far too good to be true. Well may we court trial, or 
even death itself, if we shall thereby be aided to make glad 
Immanuel's heart. that our heart were crushed to atoms, 
if only by such bruising our sweet Lord Jesus could be glori- 
fied ! Graces unexercised are as sweet perfumes slumbering 
in the cups of the flowers : the wisdom of the great Husband- 
man overrules diverse and opposite causes to produce the 
one desired result, and makes both affliction and consolation 
draw forth the grateful odors of faith, love, patience, hope, 
resignation, joy, and the other fair flowers of the garden. 
May we know by sweet experience what this means ! 
6 




62 daily readings. March 2. 

"But all the Israelites went doKm to the Philistines, to sharpen 
every man his share, and his colter, and his axe, and his mat- 
tock." — 1 Samuel xiii. 20. 

^jE are engaged in a great war with the Philistines of 
evil. Every weapon within our reach must he used. 
Preaching, teaching, praying, giving, all must be 
brought into action, and talents which have been thought too 
mean for service must now be employed. Colter, and axe, 
and mattock, may all be useful in slaying Philistines : rough 
tools may deal hard blows, and killing need not be elegantly 
done, so long as it is done effectually. Each moment of time, 
in season or out of season ; each fragment of ability, educated 
or untutored; each opportunity, favorable or unfavorable, 
must be used, for our foes are many and our force but slender. 
Most of our tools want sharpening ; we need quickness of 
perception, tact, energy, promptness ; in a word, complete 
adaptation for the Lord's work. Practical common sense is 
a very scarce thing among the conductors of Christian enter- 
prises. We might learn from our enemies if we would, and 
so make the Philistines sharpen our weapons. This morning 
let us note enough to sharpen our zeal during this day by the 
aid of the Holy Spirit. See the energy of the Papists, how 
they compass sea and land to make one proselyte ! are they 
to monopolize all the earnestness ? Mark the heathen devo- 
tees, what tortures they endure in the service of their idols ! 
are they alone to exhibit patience and self-sacrifice ? Ob- 
serve the prince of darkness, how persevering in his endeav- 
ors, how unabashed in his attempts, how daring in his plans, 
how thoughtful in his plots, how energetic in all ! The devils 
are united as one man in their infamous rebellion, while we 
believers in Jesus are divided in our service of Grod, and 
scarcely ever work with unanimity. that from Satan's 
infernal industry we may learn to go about like good Samari- 
tans, seeking whom we may bless ! 




March 3. daily readings. 63 

" I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction." — Is. xlviii. 10. 

^gOMFORT thyself, tried believer, with this thought : 
God saith, " I have chosen thee in the furnace of 
affliction." Does not the word come like a soft 
shower, assuaging the fury of the flame ? Yea, is it not an 
asbestos armor, against which the heat hath no power ? Let 
affliction come — God has chosen me. Poverty, thou mayst 
stride in at my door, but God is in the house already, and 
He has chosen me. Sickness, thou mayst intrude, but I 
have a balsam ready — God has chosen me. Whatever be- 
falls me in this vale of tears, I know that He has " chosen " 
me. If, believer, thou requirest still greater comfort, re- 
member that you have the Son of Man with you in the furnace. 
In that silent chamber of yours, there sitteth by your side 
One whom thou hast not seen, but whom thou lovest ; and 
ofttimes when thou knowest it not, He makes all thy bed in 
thy affliction, and smooths thy pillow for thee. Thou art in 
poverty ; but in that lonely house of thine the Lord of life 
and glory is a frequent visitor. He loves to come into these 
desolate places, that He may visit thee. Thy friend sticks 
closely to thee. Thou canst not see Him, but thou mayst 
feel the pressure of His hands. Dost thou not hear His 
voice ? Even in the valley of the shadow of death He says, 
" Fear not, I am with thee ; be not dismayed, for I am thy 
God." Remember that noble speech of Caesar : " Fear not, 
thou earnest Caesar and all his fortune." Fear not, Christian ; 
Jesus is with thee. In all thy fiery trials, His presence is 
both thy confort and safety. He will never leave one whom 
He has chosen for His own. " Fear not, for I am with thee," 
is His sure word of promise to His chosen ones in the "fur- 
nace of affliction." Wilt thou not, then, take fast hold of 
Christ, and say, — 

" Through floods and flames, if Jesus lead, 
I'll follow where he goes " ? 




64 daily readings. March 4. 

"My grace is sufficient for thee" — 2 Corinthians xii. 9. 

JF none of God's saints were poor and tried, we should 
not know half so well the consolations of divine grace. 
When we find the wanderer who has not where to lay 
his head, who yet can say, " Still will I trust in the Lord ; " 
when we see the pauper starving on bread and water, who 
still glories in Jesus ; when we see the bereaved widow over- 
whelmed in affliction, and yet having faith in Christ, oh, what 
honor it reflects on the gospel ! God's grace is illustrated 
and magnified in the poverty and trials of believers. Saints 
bear up under every discouragement, believing that all things 
work together for their good, and that out of apparent evils 
a real blessing shall ultimately spring — that their God will 
either work a deliverance for them speedily, or most assur- 
edly support them in the trouble, as long as Pie is pleased 
to keep them in it. This patience of the saints proves the 
power of divine grace. There is a lighthouse out at sea : it 
is a calm night — I cannot tell whether the edifice is firm; 
the tempests must rage about it, and then I shall know 
whether it will stand. So with the Spirit's work : if it were 
not on many occasions surrounded with tempestuous waters, 
we should not know that it was true and strong ; if the winds 
did not blow upon it, we should not know how firm and se- 
cure it was. The master-works of God are those men who 
stand in the midst of difficulties, steadfast, unmovable, — 

" Calm 'mid the bewildering cry, 
Confident of victory." 

He who would glorify his God must set his account upon 

meeting with many trials. No man can be illustrious before 

the Lord unless his conflicts be many. If, then, yours be a 

much-tried path, rejoice in it, because you will the better show 

forth the all-sufficient grace of God. As for His failing you, 

never dream of it — hate the thought. The God who has 

been sufficient until now should be trusted to the end. 



March 5. daily readings. 65 

" Let us not sleep, as do others." — 1 Thessalonians v. 6. 

^gw^HERE are many ways of promoting Christian wake- 
<&JFflI fulness. Among the rest, let me strongly advise 
®*^*^ Christians to converse together concerning the ways 
of the Lord. Christian and Hopeful, as they journeyed to- 
wards the Celestial City, said to themselves, " To prevent 
drowsiness in this place, let us fall into good discourse." 
Christian inquired, "Brother, where shall we begin?" And 
Hopeful answered, " Where God began with us." Then 
Christian sang this song — 

" When saints do sleepy grow, let them come hither, 
And hear how these two pilgrims talk together ; 
Yea, let them learn of them, in any wise, 
Thus to keep ope their drowsy, slumbering eyes. 
Saints' fellowship, if it be managed well, 
Keeps them awake, and that in spite of hell." 

Christians who isolate themselves and walk alone, are very 
liable to grow drowsy. Hold Christian company, and you will 
be kept wakeful by it, and refreshed and encouraged to make 
quicker progress in the road to heaven. But as you thus 
take " sweet counsel" with others in the ways of God, take 
care that the theme of your converse is your Lord Jesus. 
Let the eye of faith be constantly looking unto Him ; let your 
heart be full of Him ; let your lips speak of His worth. 
Friend, live near to the cross, and thou wilt not sleep. La- 
bor to impress thyself with a deep sense of the value of the place 
to which thou art going. If thou rememberest that thou art go- 
ing to heaven, thou wilt not sleep on the road. If thou think- 
est that hell is behind thee, and the devil pursuing thee, thou 
wilt not loiter. Would the manslayer sleep with the avenger 
of blood behind him, and the city of refuge before him ? 
Christian, wilt thou sleep whilst the pearly gates are open — 
the songs of angels waiting for thee to join them — a crown 
of gold ready for thy brow ? Ah ! no ; in holy fellowship 
continue to watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. 

6* 



66 daily readings. March 6. 

" Ye must be born again." — John iii. 7. 

^REGENERATION is a subject which lies at the very 
(^1 ^fel ^asis °^ salvation, and we should be very diligent to 
'^^ take heed that we really are " born again," for there 
are many who fancy they are, who are not. Be assured that 
the name of a Christian is not the nature of a Christian ; and 
that being born in a Christian land, and being recognized as 
professing the Christian religion, is of no avail whatever, un- 
less there be something more added to it — the being " born 
again " by the power of the Holy Spirit. To be " born again," 
is a matter so mysterious, that human words cannot describe 
it. " The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest 
the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and 
whither it goeth ; so is every one that is born of the Spirit." 
Nevertheless, it is a change which is known and felt ; known 
by works of holiness, and felt by a gracious experience. This 
great work is supernatural. It is not an operation which a 
man performs for himself: a new principle is infused, which 
works in the heart, renews the soul, and affects the entire man. 
It is not a change of my name, but a renewal of my nature, 
so that I am not the man I used to be, but a new man in Christ 
Jesus. To wash and dress a corpse is a far different thing 
from making it alive : man can do the one, God alone can do 
the other. If you have, then, been " born again," your ac- 
knowledgment will be, " Lord Jesus, the everlasting 
Father, Thou art my spiritual Parent ; unless Thy Spirit had 
breathed into me the breath of a new, holy, and spiritual 
life, I had been to this day ' dead in trespasses and sins.' 
My heavenly life is wholly derived from Thee, to Thee I as- 
cribe it. ' My life is hid with Christ in God.' It is no longer 
I who live, but Christ who liveth in me." May the Lord en- 
able us to be well assured on this vital point, for to be un- 
regenerate is to be unsaved, unpardoned, without God, and 
without hope. 



March 7. daily headings. 67 

" Have faith in God." — Mark xi. 22. 

>^^AITH is the foot of the soul by which it can march 
^§ along the road of the commandments. Love can 
make the feet move more swiftly ; but faith is the 
foot which carries the soul. Faith is the oil enabling the 
wheels of holy devotion and of earnest piety to move well ; 
and without faith the wheels are taken from the chariot, and 
we drag heavily. With faith I can do all things ; without 
faith I shall neither have the inclination nor the power to do 
anything in the service of God. If you would find the men 
who serve God the best, you must look for the men of the 
most faith. Little faith will save a man, but little faith can- 
not do great things for God. Poor little faith could not have 
fought " Apollyon ; " it needed " Christian " to do that. Poor 
little faith could not have slain " Giant Despair ; " it required 
"Great-heart's" arm to knock that monster down. Little 
faith will go to heaven most certainly, but it often has to 
hide itself in a nut-shell, and it frequently loses all but its 
jewels. Little faith says, "It is a rough road, beset with 
sharp thorns, and full of dangers ; I am afraid to go ; but 
great faith remembers the promise, " Thy shoes shall be iron 
and brass ; as thy days, so shall thy strength be : " and so 
she boldly ventures. Little faith stands desponding, min- 
gling her tears with the flood ; but great faith sings, " When 
thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee ; and 
through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee : " and she 
fords the stream at once. Would you be comfortable and 
happy ? Would you enjoy religion ? Would you have the 
religion of cheerfulness, and not that of gloom ? Then " have 
faith in God." If you love darkness, and are satisfied to 
dwell in gloom and misery, then be content with little faith ; 
but if you love the sunshine, and would sing songs of rejoic- 
ing, covet earnestly this best gift, " great faith." 




68 daily readings. March 8. 

" We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of 
God."— Actsxiv. 22. 

■p^OD'S people have their trials. It was never designed 
by Grod, when He chose His people, that they should 
be an untried people. They were chosen in the fur- 
nace of affliction ; they were never chosen to worldly peace 
and earthly joy. Freedom from sickness and the pains of 
mortality was never promised them ; but when their Lord 
drew up the charter of privileges, He included chastisements 
amongst the things to which they should inevitably be heirs. 
Trials are a part of our lot ; they were predestinated for us 
in G-od's solemn decrees, and bequeathed us in Christ's last 
legacy. So surely as the stars are fashioned by His hands, 
and their orbits fixed by Him, so surely are our trials allotted 
to us ; He has ordained their season and their place, their in- 
tensity, and the effect they shall have upon us. G-ood men 
must never expect to escape troubles ; if they do, they will be 
disappointed, for none of their predecessors have been with- 
out them. Mark the patience of Job ; remember Abraham, for 
he had his trials, and by his faith under them, he became the 
" Father of the faithful." Note well the biographies of all 
the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs, and you shall 
discover none of those whom Grod made vessels of mercy, who 
were not made to pass through the fire of affliction. It is 
ordained of old, that the cross of trouble should be engraven 
on every vessel of mercy, as the royal mark whereby the 
King's vessels of honor are distinguished. But although 
tribulation is thus the path of God's children, they have the 
comfort of knowing that their Master has traversed it before 
them ; they have His presence and sympathy to cheer them, 
His grace to support them, and His example to teach them 
how to endure ; and when they reach "the kingdom," it will 
more than make amends for the "much tribulation" through 
which they passed to enter it. 




March 9. daily readings. 69 

* - — • 

" Yea, He is altogether lovely" — Solomon's Song v. 16. 

■BfpIE superlative beauty of Jesus is all- attracting ; it is 
not so much to be admired as to be loved. He is 
more than pleasant and fair, He is lovely. Surely 
the people of God can fully justify the use of this golden word, 
for He is the object of their warmest love, a love founded on 
the intrinsic excellence of His person, the complete perfection 
of His charms. Look, disciples of Jesus, to your Master's 
lips, and say, are they not most sweet ? Do not His words 
cause your hearts to burn within you as He talks with you by 
the way ? Ye worshippers of Immanuel, look up to His head 
of much fine gold, and tell me, are not His thoughts precious 
unto you ? Is not your adoration sweetened with affection as 
ye humbly bow before that countenance which is as Leb- 
anon, excellent as the cedars ? Is there not a charm in His 
every feature, and is not His whole person fragrant with such 
a savor of His good ointments, that therefore the virgins love 
Him ? Is there one member of His glorious body which is 
not attractive ? — one portion of His person which is not a 
fresh loadstone to our souls ? — one office which is not a strong 
cord to bind your heart ? Our love is not as a seal set upon 
His heart of love alone ; it is fastened upon His arm of power 
also ; nor is there a single part of Him upon which it does not 
fix itself. We anoint His whole person with the sweet spike- 
nard of our fervent love. His whole life we would imitate ; 
His whole character we would transcribe. In all other beings 
we see some lack, in Him there is all perfection. The best 
even of His favored saints have had blots upon their garments 
and wrinkles upon their brows ; He is nothing but loveliness. 
All earthly suns have their spots ; the fair world itself hath 
its wilderness ; we cannot love the whole of the most lovely 
thing ; but Christ Jesus is gold without alloy — light without 
darkness — glory without cloud — " Yea, He is altogether 
lovely." 




70 daily readings. March 10. 

" In my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved." 
Psalm xxx. 6. 

>f|OAB is settled on his lees, he hath not been emptied 
from vessel to vessel. Give a man wealth ; let his 
ships bring home continually rich freights ; let the 
winds and waves appear to be his servants to bear his vessels 
across the bosom of the mighty deep ; let his lands yield 
abundantly ; let the weather be propitious to his crops ; let 
uninterrupted success attend him ; let him stand among men 
as a successful merchant ; let him enjoy continued health ; 
allow him with braced nerve and brilliant eye to march through 
the world and live happily ; give him the buoyant spirit ; let 
him have the song perpetually on his lips ; let his eye be ever 
sparkling with joy — and the natural consequence of such an 
easy state to any man, let him be the best Christian who ever 
breathed, will be presumption; even David said, "I shall 
never be moved ; " and we are not better than David, nor 
half so good. Brother, beware of the smooth places of the 
way, if you are treading them ; or if the way be rough, thank 
God for it. If God should always rock us in the cradle of 
prosperity ; if we were always dandled on the knees of for- 
tune ; if we had not some stain on the alabaster pillar ; if 
there were not a few clouds in the sky ; if we had not some 
bitter drops in the wine of this life, we should become intox- 
icated with pleasure ; we should dream " we stand ; " and 
stand we should, but it would be upon a pinnacle ; like the 
man asleep upon the mast, each moment we should be in 
jeopardy. We bless God, then, for our afflictions ; we thank 
Him for our changes ; we extol His name for losses of prop- 
erty; for we feel that had He not chastened us thus, we 
might have become too secure. Continued worldly pros- 
perity is a fiery trial. 

" Afflictions, though they seem severe, 
In mercy oft are sent." 



March 11. daily readings. 71 

"Sin . . . exceeding sinful." — Romans vii. 13. 

&£EWARE of light thoughts of sin. At the time of 
rfe conversion, the conscience is so tender that we are 
afraid of the slightest sin. Young converts have a 
holy timidity, a godly fear, lest they should offend against God. 
But alas ! very soon the fine bloom upon these first ripe fruits 
is removed by the rough handling of the surrounding world ; 
the sensitive plant of young piety turns into a willow in after 
life, too pliant, too easily yielding. It is sadly true, that even 
a Christian may grow by degrees so callous, that the sin which 
once startled him, does not alarm him in the least. By de- 
grees men get familiar with sin. The ear in which the can- 
non has been booming, will not notice slight sounds. At first 
a little sin startles us ; but soon we say, "Is it not a little 
one ? " Then there comes another, larger, and then another, 
until by degrees we begin to regard sin as but a little ill ; 
and then follows an unholy presumption : "We have not fallen 
into open sin. True, we tripped a little, but we stood upright 
in the main. We may have uttered one unholy word, but as 
for the most of our conversation, it has been consistent." So 
we palliate sin ; we throw a cloak over it ; we call it by dainty 
names. Christian, beware how thou thinkest lightly of sin. 
Take heed lest thou fall by little and little. Sin, a little thing ? 
Is it not a poison ? Who knows its deadliness ? Sin, a little 
thing ? Do not the little foxes spoil the grapes ? Doth not 
the tiny coral insect build a rock which wrecks a navy ? Do 
not little strokes fell lofty oaks ? Will not continual drop- 
pings wear away stones ? Sin, a little thing ? It girded the 
Redeemer's head with thorns, and pierced His heart ! It 
made Him suffer anguish, bitterness, and woe. Could you 
weigh the least sin in the scales of eternity, you would fly 
from it as from a serpent, and abhor the least appearance of 
evil. Look upon all sin as that which crucified the Saviour, 
and you will see it to be " exceeding sinful." 




72 daily headings. March 12. 

" Thou shalt love thy neighbor." — Matthew v. 43. 

^gOVE thy neighbor. Perhaps he rolls in riches, and 
thou art poor, and living in thy little cot side by side 
with his lordly mansion ; thou seest every day his 
estates, his fine linen, and his sumptuous banquets ; God has 
given him these gifts ; covet not his wealth, and think no 
hard thoughts concerning him. Be content with thine own 
lot, if thou canst not better it ; but do not look upon thy 
neighbor, and wish that he were as thyself. Love him, and 
then thou wilt not envy him. Mayhap, on the other hand, 
thou art rich, and near thee reside the poor. Bo not scorn 
to call them neighbors. Own that thou art bound to love 
them. The world calls them thy inferiors. In what are they 
inferior ? They are far more thine equals than thine inferi- 
ors, for " God hath made of one blood all people that dwell 
upon the face of the earth." It is thy coat which is better 
than theirs, but thou art by no means better than they. 
They are men, and what art thou more than that ? Take 
heed that thou love thy neighbor even though he be in rags, 
or sunken in the depths of poverty. But, perhaps, you say, 
" I cannot love my neighbors, because for all I do they re- 
turn ingratitude and contempt." So much the more room 
for the heroism of love. Wouldst thou be a feather-bed 
warrior, instead of bearing the rough fight of love ? He 
who dares the most, shall win the most ; and if rough be thy 
path of love, tread it boldly, still loving thy neighbors 
through thick and thin. Heap coals of fire on their heads ; 
and if they be hard to please, seek not to please them, 
but to please thy Master ; and remember, if they spurn thy 
love, thy Master hath not spurned it, and thy deed is as ac- 
ceptable to Him as if it had been acceptable to them. Love 
thy neighbor, for in so doing thou art following in the foot- 
steps of Christ. 




March 13. daily readings. 73 

" Why sit we here until we die? " — 2 Kings vii. 3. 

^EAR reader, this little book was mainly intended for 
$M the edification of believers ; but if you are yet unsaved, 
our heart yearns over you ; and we would fain say a 
word which may be blessed to you. Open your Bible, and 
read the story of the lepers, and mark their position, which 
was much the same as yours. If you remain where you are 
you must perish ; if you go to Jesus you can but die. " Noth- 
ing venture, nothing win," is the old proverb, and in your 
case the venture is no great one. If you sit still in sullen 
despair, no one can pity you when your ruin comes ; but if 
you die with mercy sought, if such a thing were possible, you 
would be the object of universal sympathy. None escape 
who refuse to look to Jesus ; but you know that, at any rate, 
some are saved who believe in Him, for certain of your own 
acquaintances have received mercy : then why not you ? The 
Ninevites said, " Who can tell ? " Act upon the same hope, 
and try the Lord's mercy. To perish is so awful, that if 
there were but a straw to catch at, the instinct of self-preser- 
vation should lead you to stretch out your hand. We have 
thus been talking to you on your own unbelieving ground ; we 
would now assure you, as from the Lord, that if you seek Him 
He will be found of you. Jesus casts out none who come unto 
Him. You shall not perish if you trust Him ; on the con- 
trary, you shall find treasure far richer than the poor lepers 
gathered in Syria's deserted camp. May the Holy Spirit 
embolden you to go at once, and you shall not believe in vain. 
When you are saved yourself, publish the good news to others. 
Hold not your peace; tell the king's household first, and unite 
with them in fellowship ; let the porter of the city, the minis- 
ter, be informed of your discovery, and then proclaim the 
good news in every place. The Lord save thee ere the sun 
goes down this day. 
7 



74 daily readings. March 14. 

" Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." 
1 Corinthians x. 12. 



WI is a curious fact, that there is such a thing as be- 
@j ing proud of grace. A man says, " I have great 
^ faith ; I shall not fall ; poor little faith may, but I 
never shall." " I have fervent love," says another ; " I can 
stand ; there is no danger of my going astray." He who 
boasts of grace has little grace to boast of. Some who do 
this imagine that their graces can keep them, knowing not 
that the stream must flow constantly from the fountain head, 
or else the brook will soon be dry. If a continuous stream 
of oil comes not to the lamp, though it burn brightly to-day, 
it will smoke to-morrow, and noxious will be its scent. Take 
heed that thou gloriest not in thy graces, but let all thy 
glorying and confidence be in Christ and His strength, for 
only so canst thou be kept from falling. Be much more in 
prayer. Spend longer time in holy adoration. Read the 
Scriptures more earnestly and constantly. Watch your lives 
more carefully. Live nearer to Grod. Take the best exam- 
ples for your pattern. Let your conversation be redolent of 
heaven. Let your hearts be perfumed with affection for 
men's souls. So live that men may take knowledge of you 
that you have been with Jesus, and have learned of Him ; 
and when that happy day shall come, when He whom you love 
shall say, " Come up higher," may it be your happiness to hear 
Him say, " Thou hast fought a good fight, thou hast finished 
thy course, and henceforth there is laid up for thee a crown 
of righteousness which fadeth not away." On, Christian, with 
care and caution ! On, with holy fear and trembling ! On, 
with faith and confidence in Jesus alone, and let your con- 
stant petition be, " Uphold me according to Thy word." He is 
able, and He alone, " to keep you from falling, and to present 
you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceed- 
ing joy." 



March 15. daily readings. 76 

" Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." — 2 Tim. ii. 1. 

^^^j^JHRIST has grace without measure in Himself, but He 
hath not retained it for Himself. As the reservoir 
empties itself into the pipes, so hath Christ emptied 
out His grace for His people. " Of His fulness have all we 
received, and grace for grace." He seems only to have, in 
order to dispense to us. He stands like the fountain, always 
flowing, but only running in order to supply the empty pitch- 
ers and the thirsty lips which draw nigh unto it. Like a 
tree, He bears sweet fruit, not to hang on boughs, but to be 
gathered by those who need. Grace, whether its work be to 
pardon, to cleanse, to preserve, to strengthen, to enlighten, 
to quicken, or to restore, is ever to be had from Him freely 
and without price ; nor is there one form of the work of 
grace which He has not bestowed upon His people. As the 
blood of the body, though flowing from the heart, belongs 
equally to every member, so the influences of grace are the 
inheritance of every saint united to the Lamb ; and herein 
there is a sweet communion between Christ and His Church, 
inasmuch as they both receive the same grace. Christ is the 
head upon which the oil is first poured ; but the same oil 
runs to the very skirts of the garments, so that the meanest 
saint has an unction of the same costly moisture as that which 
fell upon the head. This is true communion when the sap 
of grace flows from the stem to the branch, and when it is 
perceived that the stem itself is sustained by the very nour- 
ishment which feeds the branch. As we day by day receive 
grace from Jesus, and more constantly recognize it as coming 
from Him, we shall behold Him in communion with us, and en- 
joy the felicity of communion with Him. Let us make daily 
use of our riches, and ever repair to Him as our own Lord 
in covenant, taking from Him the supply of all we need with 
as much boldness as men take money from their own purse. 




?6 daily headings. March 16. 

" I am a stranger with thee." — Psalm xxxix. 12. 

i^ES, Lord, with Thee, but not to Thee. All my nat- 
ural alienation from Thee, Thy grace has effectually 
removed ; and now, in fellowship with Thyself, I 
walk through this sinful world as a pilgrim in a for- 
eign country. Thou art a stranger in Thine own world. 
Man forgets Thee, dishonors Thee, sets up new laws and 
alien customs, and knows Thee not. When Thy dear Son 
came unto His own, His own received Him not. He was in 
the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world 
knew Him not. Never was foreigner so speckled a bird 
among the denizens of any land, as Thy beloved Son among 
His mother's brethren. It is no marvel, then, if I, who live 
the life of Jesus, should be unknown and a stranger here be- 
low. Lord, I would not be a citizen where Jesus was an 
alien. His pierced hand has loosened the cords which once 
bound my soul to earth, and now I find myself a stranger in 
the land. My speech seems to these Babylonians among 
whom I dwell, an outlandish tongue ; my manners are singu- 
lar, and my actions are strange. A Tartar would be more 
at home in Cheapside than I could ever be in the haunts of 
sinners. But here is the sweetness of my lot ; I am a 
stranger with Thee. Thou art my fellow-sufferer, my fellow- 
pilgrim. Oh ! what joy to wander in such blessed society ! 
My heart burns within me by the way when thou dost speak 
to me, and though I be a sojourner, I am far more blessed 
than those who sit on thrones, and far more at home than 
those who dwell in their ceiled houses. 

" To me remains nor place, nor time : 
My country is in every clime ; 
I can be calm and free from care 
On any shore, since God is there. 

While place we seek, or place we shun, 
The soul finds happiness in none : 
But with a God to guide our way, 
'Tis equal joy to go or stay." 




March 17. daily readings. 77 

" Remember the poor." — Galatians ii. 10. 

|^jHY does God allow so many of His children to be 
poor ? He could make them all rich if he pleased ; 
He could lay bags of gold at their doors ; He could 
send them a large annual income ; or He could scatter round 
their houses abundance of provisions, as once He made the 
quails lie in heaps round the camp of Israel, and rained bread 
out of heaven to feed them. There is no necessity that they 
should be poor, except that He sees it to be best. " The 
cattle upon a thousand hills are His" — He could supply 
them ; He could make the richest, the greatest, and the 
mightiest bring all their power and riches to the feet of His 
children, for the hearts of all men are in His control. But 
He does not choose to do so ; He allows them to suffer want, 
He allows them to pine in penury and obscurity. Why is this ? 
There are many reasons : one is, to give us, who are favored 
with enough, an opportunity of showing our love to Jesus. We 
show our love to Christ when we sing of Him, and when we 
pray to Him ; but if there were no sons of need in the world, 
we should lose the sweet privilege of evidencing our love, by 
ministering, in alms-giving, to His poorer brethren ; He has 
ordained that thus we should prove that our love standeth not 
in word only, but in deed and in truth. If we truly love 
Christ, we shall care for those who are loved by Him. Those 
who are dear to Him will be dear to us. Let us then look 
upon it not as a duty, but as a privilege, to relieve the poor of 
the Lord's flock — remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, 
" Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these 
My brethren, ye have done it unto Me." Surely this assur- 
ance is sweet enough, and this motive strong enough, to lead 
us to help others with a willing hand and a loving heart — 
recollecting that all we do for His people is graciously 
accepted by Christ as done to Himself. 
7* 




78 daily readings. March 18. 

"Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus" 
Gal. iii. 26. 

JHE fatherhood of God is common to all His children. 
Ah ! Little-faith, you have often said, " that I 
had the courage of Great-heart, that I could wield 
His sword and be as valiant as He ! But, alas, I stumble at 
every straw, and a shadow makes me afraid." List thee, 
Little-faith. Great-heart is God's child, and you are God's 
child too ; and Great-heart is not one whit more God's child 
than you are. Peter and Paul, the highly-favored apostles, 
were of the family of the Most High ; and so are you also ; 
the weak Christian is as much a child of God as the strong 

one. 

" This covenant stands secure, 
Though earth's old pillars bow; 
The strong, the feeble, and the weak, 
Are one in Jesus now." 

All the names are in the same family register. One may 
have more grace than another, but God, our heavenly Fa- 
ther, has the same tender heart towards all. One may do 
more mighty works, and may bring more glory to his Father, 
but he whose name is the least in the kingdom of heaven is 
as much the child of God as he who stands among the king's 
mighty men. Let this cheer and comfort us, when we draw 
near to God and say, " Our Father." 

Yet, while we are comforted by knowing this, let us not 
rest contented with weak faitK, but ask, like the Apostles, to 
have it increased. However feeble our faith may be, if it be 
real faith in Christ, we shall reach heaven at last, but we 
shall not honor our Master much on our pilgrimage, neither 
shall we abound in joy and peace. If, then, you would live 
to Christ's glory, and be happy in His service, seek to be 
filled with the spirit of adoption more and more completely, 
till perfect love shall cast out fear. 




March 19. daily readings. 79 

" Strong in faith" — Romans iv. 20. 

gHRISTIAN, take good care of thy faith ; for recollect 
jpB)$ faith is the only way whereby thou canst obtain bless- 
ings. If we want blessings from God, nothing can 
fetch them down but faith. Prayer cannot draw down an- 
swers from God's throne except it be the earnest prayer of 
the man who believes. Faith is the angelic messenger be- 
tween the soul and the Lord Jesus in glory. Let that angel 
be withdrawn, we can neither send up prayer, nor receive the 
answers. Faith is the telegraphic wire which links earth 
and heaven — on which God's messages of love fly so fast, 
that before we call He answers, and while we are yet speak- 
ing He hears us. But if that telegraphic wire of faith be 
snapped, how can we receive the promise ? Am I in trouble ? 

— I can obtain help for trouble by faith. Am I beaten about 
by the enemy ? — my soul on her dear Refuge leans by faith. 
But take faith away — in vain I call to God. There is no 
road betwixt my soul and heaven. In the deepest winter- 
time faith is a road on which the horses of prayer may travel 

— ay, and all the better for the biting frost ; but blockade 
the road, and how can we communicate with the Great King ? 
Faith links me with divinity. Faith clothes me with the 
power of God. Faith engages on my side the omnipotence 
of Jehovah. Faith insures every attribute of God in my 
defence. It helps me defy the hosts of hell. It makes me 
march triumphant over the necks of my enemies. But with- 
out faith how can I receive anything of the Lord ? Let not 
him that wavereth — who is like a wave of the sea — expect 
that he will receive anything of God ! 0, then, Christian, 
watch well thy faith ; for with it thou canst win all things, 
however poor thou art, but without it thou canst obtain 
nothing. " If thou canst believe, all things are possible to 
him that believeth." 




80 daily headings. March 20. 

"My beloved." — Canticles ii. 8. 

|*|iHIS was a golden name which the ancient Church in 
her most joyous moments was wont to give to the 
Anointed of the Lord. When the time of the sing- 
ing of birds was come, and the voice of the turtle was heard 
in her land, her love-note was sweeter than either, as she 
sung, "My beloved is mine, and I am His : He feedeth among 
the lilies." Ever in her song of songs doth she call Him by 
that delightful name, " My beloved ! " Even in the long 
winter, when idolatry had withered the garden of the Lord, 
her prophets found space to lay aside the burden of the Lord 
for a little season, and to say, as Esaias did, " Now will I 
sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved touching His 
vineyard." Though the saints had never seen His face, 
though as yet He was not made flesh, nor had dwelt among 
us, nor had man beheld His glory, yet He was the consola- 
tion of Israel, the hope and joy of all the chosen, the " be- 
loved " of all those who were upright before the Most High. 
We, in the summer days of the Church, are also wont to 
speak of Christ as the best beloved of our soul, and to feel 
that He is very precious, the " chiefest among ten thousand, 
and the altogether lovely." So true is it that the Church 
loves Jesus, and claims Him as her beloved, that the apostle 
dares to defy the whole universe to separate her from the 
love of Christ, and declares that neither persecutions, dis- 
tress, affliction, peril, or the sword have been able to do it ; 
nay, he joyously boasts, " In all these things we are more 
than conquerors through Him that loved us." 
* that we knew more of Thee, Thou ever precious One ! 

" My sole possession is Thy love ; 
In earth beneath, or heaven above, 

I have no other store ; 
And though with fervent suit I pray, 
And importune Thee day by day, 

I ask Thee nothing more." 




March 21. daily readings. 81 

" Ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me 
alone" — John xvi. 32. 

>-3^EW had fellowship with the sorrows of G-ethsemane. 
" The majority of the disciples were not sufficiently ad- 
vanced in grace to be admitted to behold the mysteries 
of " the agony." Occupied with the passover feast at their 
own houses, they represent the many who live upon the letter, 
but are mere babes as to the spirit of the gospel. To twelve, 
nay, to eleven only, was the privilege given to enter Gethsem- 
ane and see " this great sight." Out of the eleven, eight were 
left at a distance ; they had fellowship, but not of that intimate 
sort to which men greatly beloved are admitted. Only three 
highly favored ones could approach the veil of our Lord's mys- 
terious sorrow ; within that veil even these must not intrude ; 
a stone's-cast distance must be left between. He must tread 
the wine-press alone, and of the people there must be none 
with Him. Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, represent the 
few eminent, experienced saints, who may be written down as 
" Fathers ; " these having done business on great waters, can 
in some degree measure the huge Atlantic waves of their Re- 
deemer's passion. To some selected spirits it is given, for the 
good of others, and to strengthen them for future, special, and 
tremendous conflict, to enter the inner circle and hear the 
pleadings of the suffering High Priest ; they have fellowship 
with Him in His sufferings, and are made conformable unto 
His death. Yet even these cannot penetrate the secret places 
of the Saviour's woe. " Thine unknown sufferings," is the 
remarkable expression of the Greek liturgy : there was an 
inner chamber in our Master's grief, shut out from human 
knowledge and fellowship. There Jesus is " left alone." 
Here Jesus was more than ever an " unspeakable gift." Is 
not Watts right when he sings — 

" And all the unknown joys he gives 
Were bought with agonies unknown " ? 



82 daily headings. March 22. 

"And He went a little farther, and fell on His face, and prayed." 
Matthew xxvi. 39. 

:>ii |^pHEIlE are several instructive features in our Saviour's 

m\ prayer in His hour of trial. It was lonely pray &r. He 
withdrew even from His three favored disciples. Be- 
liever, be much in solitary prayer, especially in times of trial. 
Family prayer, social prayer, prayer in the Church, will not 
suffice ; these are very precious, but the best beaten spice 
will smoke in your censer in your private devotions, where 
no ear hears but Grod's. 

It was humble prayer. Luke says He knelt ; but another 
evangelist says He " fell on His face." Where, then, must be 
thy place, thou humble servant of the great Master ? What 
dust and ashes should cover thy head ! Humility gives us good 
foot-hold in prayer. There is no hope of prevalence with God 
unless we abase ourselves that He may exalt us in due time. 

It was filial prayer. " Abba, Father." You will find it a 
stronghold in the day of trial to plead your adoption. You 
have no rights as a subject, you have forfeited them by your 
treason ; but nothing can forfeit a child's right to a father's 
protection. Be not afraid to say, " My Father, hear my cry." 

Observe that it was persevering prayer. He prayed three 
times. Cease not until you prevail. Be as the importunate 
widow, whose continual coming earned what her first sup- 
plication could not win. Continue in prayer, and watch in 
the same with thanksgiving. 

Lastly, it was the prayer of resignation. " Nevertheless, not 
as I will, but as thou wilt." Yield, and Grod yields. Let it 
be as Grod wills, and Grod will determine for the best. Be 
thou content to leave thy prayer in His hands, who knows 
when to give, and how to give, and what to give, and what 
to withhold. So pleading, earnestly, importunately, yet with 
humility and resignation, thou shalt surely prevail. 




March 23. daily readings. 83 

" His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down 
to the ground." — Luke xxii. 44. 

SjHE mental pressure arising from our Lord's struggle 
with temptation, so forced His frame to an unnatural 
excitement, that His pores sent forth great drops of 
blood which fell down to the ground. This proves how tre- 
mendous must have been the weight of sin when it was able to 
crush the Saviour so that He distilled great drops of blood ! 
This demonstrates the mighty power of His love. It is a very 
pretty observation of old Isaac Ambrose that the gum which 
exudes from the tree without cutting is always the best. This 
precious camphor-tree yielded most sweet spices when it was 
wounded under the knotty whips, and when it was pierced by 
the nails on the cross ; but see, it giveth forth its best spice 
when there is no whip, no nail, no wound. This sets forth 
the voluntariness of Christ's sufferings, since without a lance 
the blood flowed freely. No need to put on the leech, or ap- 
ply the knife ; it flows spontaneously. No need for the rulers 
to cry, " Spring up, well ; " of itself it flows in crimson 
torrents. If men suffer great pain of mind apparently the 
blood rushes to the heart. The cheeks are pale ; a fainting 
fit comes on ; the blood has gone inward, as if to nourish the 
inner man while passing through its trial. But see our Sa- 
viour in His agony ; He is so utterly oblivious of self, that 
instead of His agony driving His blood to the heart to nourish 
Himself, it drives it outward to bedew the earth. The agony 
of Christ, inasmuch as it pours Him out upon the ground, 
pictures the fulness of the offering which He made for men. 
Do we not perceive how intense must have been the wres- 
tling through which He passed, and will we not hear its voice 
to us f " Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against 
sin." Behold the great Apostle and High Priest of our pro- 
fession, and sweat even to blood rather than yield to the 
great tempter of your souls. 



84 DAILY READINGS. March 24. 

" He was heard in that he feared." — Hebrews v. 7. 

■^jjjlJJjID this fear arise from the infernal suggestion that He 
^j was utterly forsaken ? There may be sterner trials 
than this, but surely it is one of the worst to be utterly 
forsaken. " See," said Satan, " thou hast a friend nowhere ! 
Thy Father hath shut up the bowels of His compassion against 
thee. Not an angel in His courts will stretch out his hand to 
help Thee. All heaven is alienated from Thee. Thou art left 
alone. See the companions with whom Thou hast taken sweet 
counsel ; what are they worth ? Son of Mary, see there Thy 
brother James, see there Thy loved disciple John, and Thy 
bold apostle Peter : how the cowards sleep when Thou art in 
Thy sufferings ! Lo ! Thou hast no friend left in heaven or 
earth. All hell is against Thee. I have stirred up mine in- 
fernal den. I have sent my missives throughout all regions, 
summoning every prince of darkness to set upon Thee this 
night, and we will spare no arrows, we will use all our infernal 
might to overwhelm Thee ; and what wilt Thou do, Thou sol- 
itary one ? " It may be, this was the temptation ; we think it 
was, because the appearance of an angel unto Him, strength- 
ening Him, removed that fear. He was heard in that He 
feared ; He was no more alone, but heaven was with Him. 
It may be that this is the reason of His coming three times 
to His disciples — as Hart puts it — 

" Backwards and forwards thrice He ran, 
As if He sought some help from man." 

He would see for Himself whether it were really true that all 
men had forsaken Him ; He found them all asleep ; but per- 
haps He gained some faint comfort from the thought that 
they were sleeping, not from treachery, but from sorrow; 
the spirit indeed was willing, but the flesh was weak. At any 
rate He was heard in that He feared. Jesus was heard in 
His deepest woe ; my soul, thou shalt be heard also. 




March 25. daily headings. 85 

"Betray est thou the Son of Man with a kiss?" — Luke xxii. 48. 

gHE kisses of an enemy are deceitful. Let me be on 
my guard when the world puts on a loving face, for 
it will, if possible, betray me, as it did my Master, 
with a kiss. Whenever a man is about to stab religion, he 
usually professes very great reverence for it. Let me be- 
ware of the sleek-faced hypocrisy which is armor-bearer to 
heresy and infidelity. Knowing the deceivableness of un- 
righteousness, let me be wise as a serpent to detect and 
avoid the designs of the enemy. The young man, void of 
understanding, was led astray by the kiss of the strange 
woman : may my soul be so graciously instructed all this 
day, that " the much fair speech" of the world may have no 
effect upon me ! Holy Spirit, let me not, a poor frail son 
of man, be betrayed with a kiss ! 

But what if I should be guilty of the same accursed sin as 
Judas, that son of perdition ? I have been baptized into 
the name of the Lord Jesus ; I am a member of His visible 
Church ; I sit at the communion table : all these are so many 
kisses of my lips. Am I sincere in them ? If not, I am a 
base traitor. Do I live in the world as carelessly as others 
do, and yet make a profession of being a follower of Jesus ? 
Then I must expose religion to ridicule, and lead men to 
speak evil of the holy name by which I am called. Surely 
if I act thus inconsistently, I am a Judas, and it were better 
for me that I had never been born. Dare I hope that I am 
clear in this matter ? Then, Lord, keep me so. Lord, 
make me sincere and true. Preserve me from every false 
way. Never let me betray my Saviour. I do love Thee, 
Jesus, and though I often grieve Thee, yet I would desire 
to abide faithful even unto death. Grod, forbid that I 
should be a high-soaring professor, and then fall at last into 
the lake of fire, because I betrayed my Master with a kiss. 
8 



86 ■ daily readings. March 26. 

"Jesus said unto them, If ye seek Me, let these go their way." — 
John xviii. 8. 




)ARK, my soul, the care which Jesus manifested, even 
HH in His hour of trial, towards the sheep of His hand ! 
The ruling passion is strong in death. He resigns 
Himself to the enemy, but He interposes a word of power to 
set His disciples free. As to Himself, like a sheep before 
her shearers, He is dumb, and openeth not His mouth, but 
for His disciples' sake He speaks with Almighty energy. 
Herein is love, constant, self- forgetting, faithful love. But is 
there not far more here than is to be found upon the surface ? 
Have we not the very soul and spirit of the atonement in 
these words ? The Good Shepherd lays down His life for 
the sheep, and pleads that they must therefore go free. The 
Surety is bound, and justice demands that those for whom 
He stands a substitute should go their way. In the midst 
of Egypt's bondage, that voice rings as a word of power, 
"Let these go their way." Out of the slavery of sin and 
Satan the redeemed must come. In every cell of the dun- 
geons of Despair, the sound is echoed, "Let these go th^eir 
way" and forth come Despondency and Much-afraid. Satan 
hears the well-known voice, and lifts his foot from the neck 
of the fallen ; and Death hears it, and the grave opens her 
gates to let the dead arise. Their way is one of progress, 
holiness, triumph, glory, and none shall dare to stay them 
in it. No lion shall be on their way, neither shall any 
ravenous beast go up thereon. " The hind of the morning " 
has drawn the cruel hunters upon himself, and now the most 
timid roes and hinds of the field may graze at perfect peace 
among the lilies of his loves. The thunder-cloud has burst 
over the Cross of Calvary, and the pilgrims of Zion shall 
never be smitten by the bolts of vengeance. Come, my 
heart, rejoice in the immunity which thy Redeemer has se- 
cured thee, and bless his name all the day, and every day. 



March 27. daily headings. 87 

"Then all the disciples forsook Him andfied." — Matt. xxvi. 56. 




pE never deserted them, but they, in cowardly fear of 

\ 



4 their lives, fled from Him in the very beginning of 



His sufferings. This is but one instructive instance 
of the frailty of all believers if left to themselves ; they are 
but sheep at the best, and they flee when the wolf cometh.. 
They had all been warned of the danger, and had promised 
to die rather than leave their Master ; and yet they were 
seized with sudden panic, and took to their heels. It may 
be that I, at the opening of this day, have braced up my 
mind to bear a trial for the Lord's sake, and I imagine my- 
self to be certain to exhibit perfect fidelity ; but let me be 
very jealous of myself, lest, having the same evil heart of 
unbelief, I should depart from my Lord as the apostles did. 
It is one thing to promise, and quite another to perform. 
It would have been to their eternal honor to have stood at 
Jesus' side right manfully : they fled from honor ; may I be 
kept from imitating them ! Where else could they have 
been so safe as near their Master, who could presently call 
for twelve legions of angels ? They fled from their true safety. 
Grod, let me not play the fool also. Divine grace can 
make the coward brave. The smoking flax can flame forth 
like fire on the altar when the Lord wills it. These very 
apostles, who were timid as hares, grew to be bold as lions 
after the Spirit had descended upon them, and even so the 
Holy Spirit can make my recreant spirit brave to confess my 
Lord, and witness for His truth. 

What anguish must have filled the Saviour as He saw His 
friends so faithless ! This was one bitter ingredient in His 
cup ; but that cup is drained dry ; let me not put another 
drop in it. If I forsake my Lord, I shall crucify Him afresh, 
and put Him to an open shame. Keep me, blessed Spirit, 
from an end so shameful ! 




88 daily headings. March 28. 

"The love of Christ, which passeth knowledge." — Eph. iii. 19. 

fs^-HE love of Christ in its sweetness, its fulness, its 
g| greatness, its faithfulness, passeth all human com- 
prehension. Where shall language be found which 
shall describe His matchless, His unparalleled love towards 
*the children of men ? It is so vast and boundless that, as 
the swallow but skimmeth the water, and diveth not into its 
depths, so all descriptive words but touch the surface, while 
depths immeasurable lie beneath. Well might the poet say, 

" O love, thou fathomless abyss ! " 

for this love of Christ is indeed measureless and fathomless ; 
none can attain unto it. Before we can have any right idea 
of the love of Jesus, we must understand His previous glory 
in its height of majesty, and His incarnation upon the earth 
in all its depths of shame. But who can tell us the majesty 
of Christ ? When He was enthroned in the highest heavens 
He was very God of very God ; by Him were the heavens 
made, and all the hosts thereof. His own almighty arm 
upheld the spheres ; the praises of cherubim and seraphim 
perpetually surrounded Him ; the full chorus of the Hallelu- 
jahs of the universe unceasingly flowed to the foot of His 
throne : He reigned supreme above all His creatures, God 
over all, blessed forever. Who can tell His height of glory 
then ? And who, on the other hand, can tell how low He 
descended ? To be a man Was something, to be a man of 
sorrows was far more ; to bleed, and die, and suffer, these 
were much for Him who was the Son of God ; but to suffer 
such unparalleled agony — to endure a death of shame and 
desertion by His Father, this is a depth of condescending 
love which the most inspired mind must utterly fail to fathom. 
Herein is love ! and truly it is love that "passeth knowledge." 
let this love fill our hearts with adoring gratitude, and 
lead us to practical manifestations of its power ! 




March 29. daily headings. 89 

£ 

" Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things 
which He suffered" — Hebrews v. 8. 

UJE are told that the Captain of our salvation was made 
perfect through suffering ; therefore we who are sin- 
ful, and who are far from being perfect, must not 
wonder if we are called to pass through suffering too. 
Shall the head be crowned with thorns, and shall the other 
members of the body be rocked upon the dainty lap of ease? 
Must Christ pass through seas of His own blood to win the 
crown, and are we to walk to heaven dryshod in silver slip- 
pers ? No, our Master's experience teaches us that suffer- 
ing is necessary, and the true-born child of God must not, 
would not, escape it if he might. But there is one very com- 
forting thought in the fact of Christ's " being made perfect 
through suffering " — it is, that He can have complete sym- 
pathy with us. " He is not a high priest that cannot be 
touched with the feelings of our infirmities." In this sym- 
pathy of Christ we find a sustaining power. One of the 
early martyrs said, " I can bear it all, for Jesus suffered, 
and He suffers in me now ; He sympathizes with me, and 
this makes me strong." Believer, lay hold of this thought 
in all times of agony. Let the thought of Jesus strengthen 
you as you follow in His steps. Find a sweet support in 
His sympathy ; and remember that to suffer is an honorable 
thing — to suffer for Christ is glory. The Apostles rejoiced 
that they were counted worthy to do this. Just so far as 
the Lord shall give us grace to suffer for Christ, to suffer 
with Christ, just so far does He honor us. The jewels of a 
Christian are his afflictions. The regalia of the kings whom 
God hath anointed are their troubles, their sorrows, and 
their griefs. Let us not, therefore, shun being honored. 
Let us not turn aside from being exalted. Griefs exalt us, 
and troubles lift us up. "If we suffer, we shall also reign 

with Him." 

8* 



90 * daily readings. March 30. 

"He was numbered with the transgressors." — Isaiah liii. 12. 

1SJHY did Jesus suffer Himself to be enrolled amongst 
Mi sinners ? This wonderful condescension was justi- 
fied by many powerful reasons. In such a character 
He could the better become their advocate. In some trials 
there is an identification of the counsellor with the client ; 
nor can they be looked upon in the eye of the law as apart 
from one another. Now, when the sinner is brought to the 
bar, Jesus appears there Himself. He stands to answer the 
accusation. He points to His side, His hands, His feet, 
and challenges Justice to bring anything against the sinners 
whom He represents ; He pleads His blood, and pleads so 
triumphantly, being numbered with them, and having a part 
with them, that the Judge proclaims, " Let them go their 
way ; deliver them from going down into the pit, for He 
hath found a ransom." Our Lord Jesus was numbered with 
the transgressors in order that they might feel their hearts 
drawn towards Him. Who can be afraid of one who is 
written in the same list with us ? Surely we may come 
boldly to Him, and confess our guilt. He who is numbered 
with us cannot condemn us. Was He not put down in the 
transgressor's list that we might be written in the red roll of 
the saints ? He was holy, and written among the holy : we 
were guilty, and numbered among the guilty. He transfers 
His name from yonder list to this black indictment, and our 
names are taken from the indictment, and written in the roll 
of acceptance, for there is a complete transfer made between 
Jesus and His people. All our estate of misery and sin 
Jesus has taken ; and all that Jesus has comes to us. His 
righteousness, His blood, and everything that He hath, He 
gives us as our dowry. Rejoice, believer, in your union to 
Him who was numbered among the transgressors ; and prove 
that you are truly saved by being manifestly numbered with 
those who are new creatures in Him. 




March 31. daily headings. 91 

" With His stripes we are healed" — Isaiah liii. 5. 

^JUJILATE delivered our Lord to the lictors to be 
scourged. The Roman scourge was a most dreadful 
instrument of torture. It was made of the sinews 
of oxen, and sharp bones were intertwisted every here and 
there among the sinews ; so that every time the lash came 
down these pieces of bone inflicted fearful laceration, and 
tore off the flesh from the bone. The Saviour was, no 
doubt, bound to the column, and thus beaten. He had 
been beaten before ; but this of the Roman lictors was prob- 
ably the most severe of His flagellations. My soul, stand 
here and weep over his poor stricken body. 

Believer in Jesus, can you gaze upon Him without tears, 
as He stands before you the mirror of agonizing love ? He 
is at once fair as the lily for innocence, and red as the rose 
with the crimson of His own blood. As we feel the sure 
and blessed healing which His stripes have wrought in us, 
does not our heart melt at once with love and grief? If 
ever we have loved our Lord Jesus, surely we must feel 
that affection glowing now within our bosoms. 

" See how the patient Jesus stands, 
Insulted in His lowest case ! 
Sinners have bound the Almighty's hands, 
And spit in their Creator's face. 

With thorns His temples gored and gashed 
Send streams of blood from every part ; 

His back's with knotted scourges lashed, 
But sharper scourges tear His heart." 

We would fain go to our chambers and weep ; but, since 
our business calls us away, we will first pray our Beloved to 
print the image of His bleeding self upon the tablets of our 
hearts all the day, and at nightfall we will return to commune 
with Him, and sorrow that our sins should' have cost Him so 
dear. 



92 DAILY HEADINGS. April 1. 

" Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth" — Cant. i. 2. 

POR several days we have been dwelling upon the 
Saviour's passion, and for some little time to come 
we shall linger there. In beginning a new month, 
let us seek the same desires after our Lord as those 
which glowed in the heart of the elect spouse. See how 
she leaps at once to Him ; there are no prefatory words ; 
she does not even mention His name ; she is in the heart 
of her theme at once, for she speaks of Him who was the 
only Him in the world to her. How bold is her love ! It 
was much condescension which permitted the weeping peni- 
tent to anoint His feet with spikenard — it was rich love 
which allowed the gentle Mary to sit at His feet, and learn 
of Him — but here love, strong, fervent love, aspires to 
higher tokens of regard, and closer signs of fellowship. 
Esther trembled in the presence of Ahashuerus, but the 
spouse in joyful liberty of perfect love knows no fear. If 
we have received the same free spirit, we also may ask the 
like. By kisses we suppose to be intended those varied 
manifestations of affection by which the believer is made to 
enjoy the love of Jesus. The kiss of reconciliation we en- 
joyed at our conversion, and it was sweet as honey dropping 
from the comb. The kiss of acceptance is still warm on our 
brow, as we know that He hath accepted our persons and our 
works through rich grace. The kiss of daily, present commu- 
nion is that which we pant after to be repeated day after day, 
till it is changed into the kiss of reception, which removes the 
soul from earth, and the kiss of consummation, which fills it 
with the joy of heaven. Faith is our walk, but fellowship sen- 
sibly felt is our rest. Faith is the road, but communion with 
Jesus is the well from which the pilgrim drinks. lover of 
our souls, be not strange to us ; let the lips of Thy blessing 
meet the lips of our asking; let the lips of Thy fulness touch 
the lips of our need, and straightway the kiss will be effected. 




April 2. DAILY READINGS. 93 

"He answered Mm to never a word." — Matthew xxvii. 14. 

pE had never been slow of speech when He could bless 
)k the sons of men, but He would not say a single word 
for Himself. " Never man spake like this man," and 
never man was silent like Him. Was this singular silence 
the index of His perfect self-sacrifice f Did it show that He 
would not utter a word to stay the slaughter of His sacred 
person, which He had dedicated as an offering for us ? Had 
He so entirely surrendered Himself that He would not inter- 
fere in His own behalf, even in the minutest degree, but be 
bound and slain an unstruggling, uncomplaining victim ? 
Was this silence a type of the defencelessness of sin f Noth- 
ing can be said in palliation or excuse of human guilt ; and, 
therefore, He who bore its whole weight stood speechless 
before His judge. Is not patient silence the best reply to a 
gainsaying world ? Calm endurance answers some questions 
infinitely more conclusively than the loftiest eloquence. The 
best apologists for Christianity in the early days were its 
martyrs. The anvil breaks a host of hammers by quietly 
bearing their blows. Did not the silent Lamb of Grod furnish 
us with a grand example of wisdom ? Where every word was 
occasion for new blasphemy, it was the line of duty to afford 
no fuel for the flame of sin. The ambiguous and the false, 
the unworthy and mean, will ere long overthrow and confute 
themselves, and therefore the true can afford to be quiet, 
and finds silence to be its wisdom. Evidently our Lord, by 
His silence, furnished a remarkable fulfilment of prophecy. 
A long defence of Himself would have been contrary to 
Isaiah's prediction : " He is led as a lamb to the slaughter, 
and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth 
not His mouth." By His quiet He conclusively proved Him- 
self to be the true Lamb of God. As such we salute Him, 
this morning. Be with us, Jesus, and in the silence of our 
heart let us hear the voice of Thy love. 




94 DAILY READINGS. April 3. 

" They took Jesus, and led Him away." — John xix. 16. 

had been all night in agony. He had spent the early 
morning at the hall of Caiaphas. He had been hurried 
from Caiaphas to Pilate, from Pilate to Herod, and 
from Herod back again to Pilate. He had, therefore, but little 
strength left, and yet neither refreshment nor rest was per- 
mitted Him. They were eager for His blood, and therefore led 
Him out to die, loaded with the cross. dolorous procession ! 
Well may Salem's daughters weep. My soul, do thou weep also. 
What learn we here as we see our blessed Lord led forth? 
Do we not perceive that truth which was set forth in shadow 
by the scapegoat f Did not the high-priest bring the scape- 
goat, and put both his hands upon its head, confessing the 
sins of the people, that thus those sins might be laid upon 
the goat, and cease from the people ? Then the goat was 
led away by a fit man into the wilderness, and it carried 
away the sins of the people ; so that, if they were sought 
for, they could not be found. Now we see Jesus brought 
before the priests and rulers, who pronounce Him guilty. 
God Himself imputes our sins to Sim ; " the Lord hath laid 
on Him the iniquity of us all;" "He was made sin for us;" 
and, as the substitute for our guilt, bearing our sin upon His 
shoulders, represented by the cross, we see the great Scape- 
goat led away by the appointed officers of justice. Beloved, 
can you feel assured that He carried your sin ? As you 
look at the cross upon His shoulders, does it represent your 
sin ? There is one way by which you can tell whether He 
carried your sin or not. Have you laid your hand upon His 
head, confessed your sin, and trusted in Him ? Then your 
sin lies not on you ; it has all been transferred by blessed 
imputation to Christ, and He bears it on His shoulder as a 
load heavier than the cross. Let not the picture vanish till 
you have rejoiced in your own deliverance, and adored the 
loving Redeemer upon whom your iniquities were laid. 




April 4. DAILY READINGS. 95 

"For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; 

thai we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." 

2 Corinthians v. 21. 

^OURNING Christian ! why weep est thou ? Art thou 
mourning over thine own corruptions ? Look to thy 
perfect Lord, and remember, thou art complete in 
Him ; thou art in God's sight as perfect as if thou hadst never 
sinned ; nay, more than that, the Lord our Righteousness hath 
put a divine garment upon thee, so that thou hast more than 
the righteousness of man — thou hast the righteousness of 
God. O thou who art mourning by reason of inbred sin and 
depravity, remember, none of thy sins can condemn thee. 
Thou hast learned to hate sin ; but thou hast learned also to 
know that sin is not thine — it was laid upon Christ's head. 
Thy standing is not in thyself — it is in Christ ; thine accept- 
ance is not in thyself, but in thy Lord ; thou art as much 
accepted of God to-day, with all thy sinfulness, as thou wilt 
be when thou standest before His throne, free from all 
corruption. 0, I beseech thee, lay hold on this precious 
thought, 'perfection in Christ I For thou art " complete in 
Him." With thy Saviour's garment on, thou art holy as 
the Holy One. " Who is he that condemneth ? It is Christ 
that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the 
right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." 
Christian, let thy heart rejoice, for thou art " accepted in the 
beloved" — what hast thou to fear ? Let thy face ever wear 
a smile ; live near thy Master ; live in the suburbs of the 
Celestial City ; for soon, when thy time has come, thou shalt 
rise up where thy Jesus sits, and reign at His right hand, 
even as He has overcome and has sat down at His Father's 
right hand ; and all this because the divine Lord " was made 
to be sin for us, who knew no sin ; that we might be made 
the righteousness of God in Him." 



DAILY READINGS. April 5. 



On him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus." 
Luke xxiii. 26. 

JE see in Simon's carrying the cross a picture of the 
WJi work of the Church throughout all generations ; she 
"^-^ is the cross-bearer after Jesus. Mark then, Chris- 
tian, Jesus does not suffer so as to exclude your suffering. 
He bears a cross, not that you may escape it, but that you 
may endure it. Christ exempts you from sin, but not from 
sorrow. Remember that, and expect to suffer. 

But let us comfort ourselves with this thought, that in our 
case, as in Simon's, it is not our cross, but Christ's cross which 
we carry. When you are molested for your piety, when 
your religion brings the trial of cruel mockings upon you, 
then remember it is not your cross, it is Christ's cross ; and 
how delightful is it to carry the cross of our Lord Jesus ! 

You carry the cross after Him. You have blessed com- 
pany ; your path is marked with the footprints of your Lord. 
The mark of His blood-red shoulder is upon that heavy burden. 
'Tis His cross, and He goes before you as a shepherd goes 
before his sheep. Take up your cross daily, and follow Him. 
Do not forget, also, that you bear this cross in partnership. 
It is the opinion of some that Simon only carried one end of 
the cross, and not the whole of it. That is very possible ; 
Christ may have carried the heavier part, against the trans- 
verse beam, and Simon may have borne the lighter end. Cer- 
tainly it is so with you ; you do but carry the light end of 
the cross, Christ bore the heavier end. 

And remember, though Simon had to bear the cross for a 
very little while, it gave him lasting honor. Even so the cross 
we carry is only for a little while at most, and then we shall 
receive the crown, the glory. Surely we should love the cross, 
and, instead of shrinking from it, count it very dear, when it 
works out for us " a far more exceeding and eternal weight 
of glory." 



April 6. DAILY HEADINGS. 97 

"Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp" 
Hebrews xiii. 13. ' 

ESUS, bearing His cross, went forth to suffer without 
the gate. The Christian's reason for leaving the camp 
of the world's sin and religion is not because he loves 
to be singular, but because Jesus did so ; and the disciple must 
follow his Master. Christ was " not of the world : " His life 
and His testimony were a constant protest against conformity 
with the world. Never was such overflowing affection for men 
as you find in Him ; but still He was separate from sinners. 
In like manner Christ's people must " go forth unto Him." 
They must take their position " without the camp," as witness- 
bearers for the truth. They must be prepared to tread the 
straight and narrow path. They must have bold, unflinching, 
lion-like hearts, loving Christ first, and His truth next, and 
Christ and His truth beyond all the world. Jesus would have 
His people "go forth without the camp "for their own sane- 
tification. You cannot grow in grace to any high degree 
while you are conformed to the world. The life of separa- 
tion may be a path of sorrow, but it is the highway of safety ; 
and though the separated life may cost you many pangs, and 
make every day a battle, yet it is a happy life after all. No 
joy can excel that of the soldier of Christ ; Jesus reveals Him- 
self so graciously, and gives such sweet refreshment, that the 
warrior feels more calm and peace in his daily strife than 
others in their hours of rest. The highway of holiness is the 
highway of communion. It is thus we shall hope to win the 
crown if we are enabled by divine grace faithfully to follow 
Christ "without the camp." The crown of glory will follow 
the cross of separation. A moment's shame will be well 
recompensed by eternal honor; a little while of witness- 
bearing will seem nothing when we are " forever with the 
Lord." 

9 



DAILY READINGS. April 7. 



" ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame ? " 
Psalm iv. 2. 




^J'^JN instructive writer lias made a mournful list of the 
honors which the blinded people of Israel awarded to 
their long-expected King. (1.) They gave Him a 
'procession of honor, in which Roman legionaries, Jewish 
priests, men and women, took a part, He Himself bearing 
His cross. This is the triumph which the world awards to 
Him who comes to overthrow man's direst foes. Derisive 
shouts are His only acclamations, and cruel taunts His only 
paeans of praise. (2.) They presented Him with the wine of 
honor. Instead of a golden cup of generous wine, they offered 
Him the criminal's stupefying death-draught, which He re- 
fused because He would preserve an uninjured taste where- 
with to taste of death ; and afterwards when He cried, " I 
thirst," they gave Him vinegar mixed with gall, thrust to His 
mouth upon a sponge. Oh ! wretched, detestable inhospi- 
tality to the King's Son. (3.) He was provided with a guard 
of honor, who showed their esteem of Him by gambling over 
His garments, which they had seized as their booty. Such 
was the body-guard of the adored of heaven ; a quaternion 
of brutal gamblers. (4.) A throne of honor was found for 
Him upon the bloody tree ; no easier place of rest would 
rebel men yield to their liege Lord. The cross was, in fact, 
the full expression of the world's feeling towards Him. 
" There," they seemed to say, " Thou Son of God, this is the 
manner in which God Himself should be treated, could we 
reach Him." (5.) The title of honor was nominally " King 
of the Jews," but that the blinded nation distinctly repudi- 
ated, and really called Him " King of thieves," by preferring 
Bar abbas, and by placing Jesus in the place of highest shame 
between two thieves. His glory was thus in all things turned 
into shame by the sons of men, but it shall yet gladden the 
eyes of saints and angels, world without end. 




April 8. DAILY HEADINGS. 99 

" If they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the 
dry ? " — Luke xxiii. 31. 

srMONG- other interpretations of this suggestive ques- 
* tion, the following is full of teaching : "If I, the in- 
nocent substitute for sinners, suffer thus, what will 
be done when the sinner himself — the dry tree — shall fall 
into the hands of an angry God ? " When God saw Jesus in 
the sinner's place, He did not spare Him ; and when He finds 
the unregenerate without Christ, He will not spare them. 
sinner, Jesus was led away by His enemies : so shall you be 
dragged away by fiends to the place appointed for you. 
Jesus was deserted of God ; and if He, who was only im- 
putedly a sinner, was deserted, how much more shall you be ! 
" Eloi, Eloi, lama, sabachthani ! " what an awful shriek ! 
But what shall be your cry when you shall say, " God ! 
God ! why hast Thou forsaken me ? " and the answer shall 
come back, " Because ye have set at nought all My counsel, 
and would none of My reproof, I also will laugh at your 
calamity ; I will mock when your fear cometh " ? If God 
spared not His own Son, how much less will He spare you ! 
What whips of burning wire will be yours when conscience 
shall smite you with all its terrors ! Ye richest, ye merriest, 
ye most self-righteous sinners, who would stand in your 
place when God shall say, " Awake, sword, against the 
man that rejected Me ; smite him, and let him feel the 
smart forever " ? Jesus was spit upon : sinner, what shame 
will be yours ! We cannot sum up in o,ne word all the mass 
of sorrows which met upon the head of Jesus, who died for 
us ; therefore it is impossible for us to tell you what streams, 
what oceans of grief, must roll over your spirit if you die as 
you now are. You may die so, you may die now. By the 
agonies of Christ, by His wounds and by His blood, do not 
bring upon yourselves the wrath to come ! Trust in the Son 
of God, and you shall never die. 



100 DAILY READINGS. April 9. 

" And there followed Him a great company of people, and of wo- 
men, which also bewailed and lamented him" — Luke xxiii. 27. 

gMID the rabble rout which hounded the Redeemer to 




His doom, there were some gracious souls whose 
bitter anguish sought vent in wailing and lamenta- 
tions — fit music to accompany that march of woe. When 
my soul can, in imagination, see the Saviour bearing His 
cross to Calvary, she joins the godly women and weeps with 
them ; for, indeed, there is true cause for grief — cause lying 
deeper than those mourning women thought. They bewailed 
innocence maltreated, goodness persecuted, love bleeding, 
meekness about to die ; but my heart has a deeper and more 
bitter cause to mourn. My sins were the scourges which 
lacerated those blessed shoulders, and crowned with thorn 
those bleeding brows : my sins cried, " Crucify Him ! crucify 
Him ! " and laid the cross upon His gracious shoulders. His 
being led forth to die is sorrow enough for one eternity : but 
my having been His murderer, is more, indefinitely more, 
grief than one poor fountain of tears can express. 

Why those women loved and wept it were not hard to guess ; 
but they could not have had greater reasons for love and 
grief than my heart has. Nain's widow saw her son restored 
— but I myself have been raised to newness of life. Peter's 
wife's mother was cured of the fever — but I of the greater 
plague of sin. Out of Magdalene seven devils were cast — 
but a whole legion out of me. Mary and Martha were 
favored with visits-*- but He dwells with me. His mother 
bare his body — but He is formed in me the hope of glory. 
In nothing behind the holy women in debt, let me not 
be behind them in gratitude or sorrow. 

"Love and grief my heart dividing, 
With my tears His feet I'll lave — 
Constant still in heart abiding, 
Weep for Him who died to save." 




April 10. DAILY HEADINGS. 101 

" The place which is called Calvary" — Luke xxiii. 33. 

gHE hill of comfort is the hill of Calvary ; the house of 

consolation is built with the wood of the cross ; the 

temple of heavenly blessing is founded upon the riven 

rock — riven by the spear which pierced His side. No scene in 

sacred history ever gladdens the soul like Calvary's tragedy. 

" Is it not strange, the darkest hour 
That ever dawned on sinful earth 
Should touch the heart with softer power, 
For comfort, than an angel's mirth ? 
That to the Cross the mourner's eye should turn, 
Sooner than where the stars of Bethlehem burn ? " 

Light springs from the midday-midnight of Golgotha, and 
every herb of the field blooms sweetly beneath the shadow 
of the once accursed tree. In that place of thirst, grace 
hath dug a fountain which ever gusheth with waters pure as 
crystal, each drop capable of alleviating the woes of mankind. 
You who have had your seasons of conflict, will confess that 
it was not at Olivet that you ever found comfort, not on the 
hill of Sinai, nor on Tabor ; but Gethsemane, Gabbatha, and 
Golgotha have been a means of comfort to you. The bitter 
herbs of Gethsemane have often taken away the bitters of 
your life ; the scourge of Gabbatha has often scourged away 
your cares, and the groans of Calvary have put all other 
groans to flight. Thus Calvary yields us comfort rare and 
rich. We never should have known Christ's love in all its 
heights and depths if He had not died ; nor could we guess 
the Father's deep affection if He had not given His Son to 
die. The common mercies we enjoy all sing of love, just as 
the sea-shell, when we put it to our ears, whispers of the 
deep sea whence it came ; but if we desire to hear the ocean 
itself, we must not look at every-day blessings, but at the 
transactions of the crucifixion. He who would know love, let 
him retire to Calvary and see the Man of sorrows die. 
9* 



102 DAILY READINGS. April 11. 

"2" am 'poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint." 
Psalm xxii. 14. 

SBI&ID earth or heaven ever behold a sadder spectacle of 
woe ? In soul and body, our Lord felt Himself to be 
weak as water poured upon the ground. The placing 
of the cross in its socket had shaken Him with great violence, 
had strained all the ligaments, pained every nerve, and more 
or less dislocated all His bones. Burdened with His own 
weight, the august Sufferer felt the strain increasing every 
moment of those six long hours. His sense of faintness and 
general weakness was overpowering ; while to His own 
consciousness He became nothing but a mass of misery and 
swooning sickness. When Daniel saw the great vision, he 
thus describes his sensations : " There remained no strength 
in me, for my vigor was turned into corruption, and I re- 
tained no strength : " how much more faint must have been 
our greater Prophet when He saw the dread vision of the 
wrath of G-od, and felt it in His own soul ! To us, sensations 
such as our Lord endured would have been insupportable, 
and kind unconsciousness would have come to our rescue ; 
but in His case, He was wounded, and felt the sword ; He 
drained the cup and tasted every drop. 

" King of Grief ! (a title strange, yet true, 
To Thee of all kings only due,) 
O King of Wounds ! how shall I grieve for Thee, 
Who in all grief preventest me ! " 

As we kneel before our now ascended Saviour's throne, let 
us remember well the way by which He prepared it as a 
throne of grace for us ; let us in spirit drink of His cup, that 
we may be strengthened for our hour of heaviness whenever 
it may come. In His natural body every member suffered, 
and so must it be in the spiritual ; but as out of all His griefs 
and woes His body came forth uninjured to glory and power, 
even so shall His mystical body come through the furnace 
with not so much as the smell of fire upon it. 




April 12. DAILY READINGS. 103 

" My heart is like wax ; it is melted in the midst of my bowels" 
Psalm xxii. 14. 

ftJR blessed Lord experienced a terrible sinking and 
WR melting of soul. " The spirit of a man will sustain 
^ * his infirmity, but a wounded spirit who can bear ? " 
Deep depression of spirit is the most grievous of all trials ; all 
besides is as nothing. Well might the suffering Saviour cry 
to His G-od, " Be not far from me," for above all other sea- 
sons a man needs his Grod when his heart is melted within 
him because of heaviness. Believer, come near the cross 
this morning, and humbly adore the King of glory as having 
once been brought far lower, in mental distress and inward 
anguish, than any one among us ; and mark His fitness to be- 
come a faithful High Priest, who can be touched with a feeling 
of our infirmities. Especially let those of us whose sadness 
springs directly from the withdrawal of a present sense of 
our Father's love, enter into near and intimate communion 
with Jesus. Let us not give way to despair, since through 
this dark room the Master has passed before us. Our souls 
may sometimes long and faint, and thirst even to anguish, to 
behold the light of the Lord's countenance : at such times let 
us stay ourselves with the sweet fact of the sympathy of our 
great High Priest. Our drops of sorrow may well be forgot- 
ten in the ocean of His griefs ; but how high ought our love 
to rise ! Come in, strong and deep love of Jesus, like the 
sea at the flood in spring tides, cover all my powers, drown 
all my sins, wash out all my cares, lift up my earth-bound 
soul, and float it right up to my Lord's feet, and there let 
me lie, a poor broken shell, washed up by His love, having 
no virtue or value ; and only venturing to whisper to Him that 
if He will put His ear to me, He will hear within my heart 
faint echoes of the vast waves of His own love which have 
brought me where it is my delight to lie, even at His feet 
forever. 



104 DAILY READINGS. 


April 13. 


" A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me." - 


- Cant. i. 13. 




j^fff^YRRH may well be chosen as the type of Jesus on 
|H| account of its preciousness, its perfume, its pleasant- 
ness, its healing, preserving, disinfecting qualities, and 
its connection with sacrifice. But why is He compared to " a 
bundle of myrrh " ? First, for plenty. He is not a drop of 
it, He is a casket full. He is not a sprig or flower of it, but 
a whole bundle. There is enough in Christ for all my neces- 
sities ; let me not be slow to avail myself of Him. Our well- 
beloved is compared to a " bundle," again, for variety ; for 
there is in Christ not only the one thing needful, but "in Him 
dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily ; " everything 
needful is in Him. Take Jesus in His different characters, 
and you will see a marvellous variety — Prophet, Priest, 
King, Husband, Friend, Shepherd. Consider Him in His 
life, death, resurrection, ascension, second advent; view Him 
in His virtue, gentleness, courage, self-denial, love, faithful- 
ness, truth, righteousness — everywhere He is a bundle of 
preciousness. He is a " bundle of myrrh " for preservation 
— not loose myrrh, to be dropped on the floor or trodden on, 
but myrrh tied up, myrrh to be stored in a casket. We must 
value Him as our best treasure ; we must prize His words 
and His ordinances ; and we must keep our thoughts of Him 
and knowledge of Him as under lock and key, lest the devil 
should steal anything from us. Moreover Jesus is a " bundle 
of myrrh " for speciality ; the emblem suggests the idea of 
distinguishing, discriminating grace. From before the foun- 
dation of the world, He was set apart for His people ; and 
He gives forth His perfume only to those who understand 
how to enter into communion with Him, to have close deal- 
ings with Him. Oh ! blessed people whom the Lord hath ad- 
mitted into His secrets, and for whom He sets Himself apart. 
Oh ! choice and happy who are thus made to say, " A bun- 
dle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me." 




April 14. DAILY READINGS. 105 

" All they that see me laugh me to scorn : they shoot out the lip, 
they shake the head." — Psalm xxii. 7. 

)OCKERY was a great ingredient in our Lord's woe. 
Judas mocked Him in the garden ; the chief priests 
and scribes laughed Him to scorn ; Herod set Him 
at nought ; the servants and the soldiers jeered at Him, and 
brutally insulted Him ; Pilate and his guards ridiculed His 
royalty; and on the tree all sorts of horrid jests and hideous 
taunts were hurled at Him. Ridicule is always hard to bear ; 
but when we are in intense pain it is so heartless, so cruel, 
that it cuts us to the quick. Imagine the Saviour crucified, 
racked with anguish far beyond all mortal guess, and then 
picture that motley multitude, all wagging their heads or 
thrusting out the lip in bitterest contempt* of one poor suffer- 
ing victim ! Surely there must have been something more 
in the crucified One than they could see, or else such a great 
and mingled crowd would not unanimously have honored Him 
with such contempt. Was it not evil confessing, in the very 
moment of its greatest apparent triumph, that after all it 
could do no more than mock at that victorious goodness 
which was then reigning on the cross ? Jesus, " despised 
and rejected of men," how couldst Thou die for men who 
treated Thee so ill ? Herein is love amazing, love divine, 
yea, love beyond degree. We, too, have despised Thee in 
the days of our unregeneracy, and even since our new birth 
we have set the world on high in our hearts, and yet Thou 
bleedest to heal our wounds, and diest to give us life. O that 
we could set Thee on a glorious high throne in all men's 
hearts ! We would ring out Thy praises over land and sea 
till men should as universally adore as once they did unani- 
mously reject. 

"Thy creatures wrong Thee, O Thou sovereign Good! 
Thou art not loved, because not understood : 
This grieves me most, that vain pursuits beguile 
Ungrateful men, regardless of Thy smile." 




106 DAILY READINGS. April 15. 

"My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" — Psalm xxii. 1. 

.|£pE here behold the Saviour in the depth of His sor- 
No other place so well shows the griefs of 
Christ as Calvary, and no other moment at Calvary 
is so full of agony as that in which His cry rends the air — 
" My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me ? " At this 
moment physical weakness was united with acute mental tor- 
ture from the shame and ignominy through which He had to 
pass ; and to make His grief culminate with emphasis, He 
suffered spiritual agony surpassing all expression, resulting 
from the departure of His Father's presence. This was the 
black midnight of His horror ; then it was that He descended 
the abyss of suffering. No man can enter into the full mean- 
ing of these words. Some of us think at times that we could 
cry, " My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ? " 
There are seasons when the brightness of our Father's smile 
is eclipsed by clouds and darkness ; but let us remember 
that God never does really forsake us. It is only a seeming 
forsaking with us, but in Christ's case it was a real forsaking. 
We grieve at a little withdrawal of our Father's love ; but 
the real turning away of God's face from His Son, who shall 
calculate how deep the agony which it caused Him ? 

In our case, our cry is often dictated by unbelief: in His 
case, it was the utterance of a dreadful fact, for God had 
really turned away from Him for a season. thou poor, 
distressed soul, who once lived in the sunshine of God's 
face, but art now in darkness, remember that He has not 
really forsaken thee. God in the clouds is as much our 
God as when He shines forth in all the lustre of His grace ; 
but since even the thought that He has forsaken us gives us 
agony, what must the woe of the Saviour have been when 
He exclaimed, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken 
me ? " 




April 16. DAILY READINGS. 107 

" The precious blood of Christ." — 1 Peter i. 19. 

STANDING at the foot of the cross, we see hands, 
jjw and feet, and side, all distilling crimson streams of 
precious blood. It is " precious " because of its re- 
deeming and atoning efficacy. By it $he sins of Christ's peo- 
ple are atoned for ; they are redeemed from under the law ; 
they are reconciled to God, made one with Him. Christ's 
blood is also " precious " in its cleansing power ; it " cleans- 
eth from all sin." " Though your sins be as scarlet, they 
shall be as white as snow." Through Jesus' blood there is 
not a spot left upon any believer ; no wrinkle, nor any such 
thing, remains. precious blood, which makes -us clean, 
removing the stains of abundant iniquity, and permitting us 
to stand accepted in the Beloved, notwithstanding the many 
ways in which we have rebelled against our God ! The blood 
of Christ is likewise " precious " in its preserving power. We 
are safe from the destroying angel under the sprinkled blood. 
Remember, it is God's seeing the blood which is the true 
reason for our being spared. Here is comfort for us when 
the eye of faith is dim, for God's eye is still the same. The 
blood of Christ is " precious " also in its sanctifying influ- 
ence. The same blood which justifies by taking away sin, 
does, in after-action, quicken the new nature, and lead it 
onward to subdue sin, and to follow out the commands of 
God. There is no motive for holiness so great as that 
which streams from the veins of Jesus. And " precious," 
unspeakably precious, is this blood, because it has an over- 
coming power. It is written, " They overcame through the 
blood of the Lamb." How could they do otherwise ? He who 
fights with the precious blood of Jesus fights with a weapon 
which cannot know defeat. The blood of Jesus ! Sin dies 
at its presence, death ceases to be death; heaven's gates are 
opened. The blood of Jesus ! We shall march on, con- 
quering and to conquer, so long as we can trust its power ! 



108 DAILY HEADINGS. April 17. 

" We are come to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better tilings 
than that of Abel" — Hebrews xii. 24. 

^Wjj^EAMlR, have you come to the blood of sprinkling ? 



i 



Hi ife ~^ e ( l ues ^ on * s not whether you have come to a 
*&s®^ knowledge of doctrine, or an observance of ceremo- 
nies, or to a certain form of experience, but have you come 
to the blood of Jesus f The blood of Jesus is the life of all 
vital godliness. If you have truly come to Jesus, we know 
how you came — the Holy Spirit sweetly brought you there. 
You came to the blood of sprinkling with no merits of your 
own. Guilty, lost, and helpless, you came to take that blood, 
and that blood alone, as your everlasting hope. You came 
to the cross of Christ with a trembling and an aching heart ; 
and oh ! what a precious sound it was to you to hear the 
voice of the blood of Jesus ! The dropping of His blood is 
as the music of heaven to the penitent sons of earth. We 
are full of sin, but the Saviour bids us lift our eyes to Him, 
and, as we gaze upon His streaming wounds, each drop 
of blood, as it falls, cries, " It is finished ; I have made an 
end of sin ; I have brought in everlasting righteousness." 
Oh ! sweet language of the precious blood of Jesus ! If you 
have come to that blood once, you will come to it constantly. 
Your life will be " looking unto Jesus." Your whole con- 
duct will be epitomized in this — " To whom coming." Not 
to whom I have come, but to whom I am always coming. If 
thou hast ever come to the blood of sprinkling, thou wilt 
feel thy need of coming to it every day. He who does not 
desire to wash in that every day has never washed in it at 
all. The believer ever feels it to be his joy and privilege 
that there is still a fountain opened. Past experiences are 
doubtful food for Christians : a present coming to Christ alone 
can give us joy and comfort. This morning let us sprinkle 
our door-post fresh with blood, and then feast upon the Lamb, 
assured that the destroying angel must pass us by. 



April 18. DAILY READINGS. 109 

" She bound the scarlet line in the window." — Joshua ii. 21. 




AHAB depended for her preservation upon the prom- 
;» ise of the spies, whom she looked upon as the repre- 
^*^^ sentatives of the Grod of Israel. Her faith was simple 
and firm, but it was very obedient. To tie the scarlet line in 
the window was a very trivial act in itself, but she dared not 
run the risk of omitting it. Come, my soul, is there not here 
a lesson for thee ? Hast thou been attentive to all thy Lord's 
will, even though some of His commands should seem non- 
essential ? Hast thou observed in His own way the two or- 
dinances of believers' baptism and the Lord's Supper ? These 
neglected, argue much unloving disobedience in thy heart. 
Be henceforth in all things blameless, even to the tying of a 
thread, if that be matter of command. 

This act of Rahab sets forth a yet more solemn lesson. 
Have I implicitly trusted in the precious blood of Jesus ? 
Have I tied the scarlet cord, as with a gordian knot, in my 
window, so that my trust can never be removed ? Or can I 
look out towards the Dead Sea of my sins, or the Jerusalem 
of my hopes, without seeing the blood, and seeing all things 
in connection with its blessed power ? The passer-by can see 
a cord of so conspicuous a color, if it hangs from the window : 
it will be well for me if my life makes the efficacy of the atone- 
ment conspicuous to all onlookers. What is there to be 
ashamed of? Let men or devils gaze if they will ; the blood 
is my boast and my song. My soul, there is One who will 
see that scarlet line, even when from weakness of faith thou 
canst not see it thyself; Jehovah, the Avenger, will see it 
and pass over thee. Jericho's walls fell flat ; Rahab's house 
was on the wall, and yet it stood unmoved ; my nature is 
built into the wall of humanity, and yet when destruction 
smites the race, I shall be secure. My soul, tie the scarlet 
thread in the window afresh, and rest in peace. 
10 



110 DAILY HEADINGS. April 19. 

" Behold, the vail of the temple was rent in twain from the top 
to the bottom." — Matthew xxvii. 51. 



jKO mean miracle was wrought in the rending of so 
'(h strong and thick a veil ; but it was not intended 
K ^ merely as a display of power — many lessons were 
herein taught us. The old law of ordinances was put away, 
and like a worn-out vesture, rent and laid aside. When Jesus 
died, the sacrifices were all finished, because all fulfilled in 
Him, and therefore the place of their presentation was marked 
with an evident token of decay. That rent also revealed all 
the hidden things of the old dispensation : the mercy-seat could 
now be seen, and the glory of God gleamed forth above it. 
By the death of our Lord Jesus we have a clear revelation 
of God, for He was " not as Moses, who put a veil over his 
face." Life and immortality are now brought to light, and 
things which have been hidden since the foundation of the 
world are manifest in Him. The annual ceremony of atone- 
ment was thus abolished. The atoning blood, which was once 
every year sprinkled within the vail, was noiv offered once for 
all by the great High Priest, and therefore the place of the 
symbolical rite was broken up. No blood of bullocks or of 
lambs is needed now, for Jesus has entered within the vail 
with His own blood. Hence access to God is now permitted, 
and is the privilege of every believer in Christ Jesus. There 
is no small space laid open through which we may peer at the 
mercy-seat, but the rent reaches from the top to the bottom. 
We may come with boldness to the throne of the heavenly 
grace. Shall we err if we say that the opening of the Holy of 
Holies in this marvellous manner by our Lord's expiring cry 
was the type of the opening of the gates of paradise to all the 
saints by virtue of the Passion ? Our bleeding Lord hath the 
key of heaven ; He openeth and no man shutteth ; let us enter 
in with Him into the heavenly places, and sit with Him there 
till our common enemies shall be made His footstool. 




April 20. DAILY READINGS. Ill 

" That through death He might destroy him that had the power 
of death" — Hebrews ii. 14. 

*j^ CHILD of God, death hath lost its sting, because the 
devil's power over it is destroyed. Then cease to 
fear dying. Ask grace from God the Holy Ghost, 
that by an intimate knowledge and a firm belief of thy Re- 
deemer's death, thou mayst be strengthened for that dread 
hour. Living near the cross of Calvary, thou mayst think 
of death with pleasure, and welcome it when it comes with 
intense delight. It is sweet to die in the Lord ; it is a cov- 
enant-blessing to sleep in Jesus. Death is no longer banish- 
ment ; it is a return from exile, a going home to the many 
mansions where the loved ones already dwell. The distance 
between glorified spirits in heaven and militant saints on 
earth seems great ; but it is not so. We are not far from 
home — a moment will bring us there. The sail is spread ; 
the soul is launched upon the deep. How long will be its 
voyage ? How many wearying winds must beat upon the 
sail ere it shall be reefed in the port of peace ? How long 
shall that soul be tossed upon the waves before it comes to 
that sea which knows no storm ? Listen to the answer : "Ab- 
sent from the body, present with the Lord." Yon ship has 
just departed, but it is already at its haven. It did but spread 
its sail and it was there. Like that ship of old, upon the lake 
of Galilee, a storm had tossed it ; but Jesus said, " Peace, be 
still," and immediately it came to land. Think not that a 
long period intervenes between the instant of death and the 
eternity of glory. When the eyes close on earth they open 
in heaven. The horses of fire are not an instant on the road. 
Then, child of God, what is there for thee to fear in death, 
seeing that through the death of thy Lord its curse and sting 
are destroyed ? and now it is but a Jacob's ladder whose foot 
is in the dark grave, but its top reaches to glory everlasting. 




112 DAILY READINGS. April 21. 

"I know that my Redeemer liveth." — Job xix. 25. 

^HE marrow of Job's comfort lies in that little word 
" My " — " My Redeemer," and in the fact that the 
Redeemer lives. Oh ! to get hold of a living Christ. 
We must get a property in Him before we can enjoy Him. 
What is gold in the mine to me ? Men are beggars in Peru, 
and beg their bread in California. It is gold in my purse 
which will satisfy my necessities, by purchasing the bread I 
need. So a Redeemer who does not redeem me, an Avenger 
who will never stand up for my blood, of what avail were such ? 
Rest not content until by faith you can say, " Yes, I cast my- 
self upon my living Lord ; and He is mine." It may be you 
hold Him with a feeble hand ; you half think it presumption 
to say, " He lives as my Redeemer ; " yet, remember, if you 
have but faith as a grain of mustard seed, that little faith en- 
titles you to say it. But there is also another word here, ex- 
pressive of Job's strong confidence — " / know." To say, " I 
hope so, I trust so," is comfortable ; and there are thousands 
in the fold of Jesus who hardly ever get much further. But 
to reach the essence of consolation you must say, " I know." 
Ifs, buts, and perhapses, are sure murderers of peace and 
comfort. Doubts are dreary things in times of sorrow. Like 
wasps they sting the soul ! If I have any suspicion that Christ 
is not mine, then there is vinegar mingled with the gall of 
death ; but if I know that Jesus lives for me, then darkness 
is not dark ; even the night is light about me. Surely if Job, 
in those ages before the coming and advent of Christ, could 
say, " I know," we should not speak less positively. God 
forbid that our positiveness should be presumption. Let us 
see that our evidences are right, lest we build upon an un- 
grounded hope ; and then let us not be satisfied with the 
mere foundation, for it is from the upper rooms that we get 
the widest prospect. A living Redeemer, truly mine, is joy 
unsueakable. 



April 22. DAILY READINGS. 113 

"Him hath God exalted" — Acts v. 31. 



m 



^ESUS, our Lord, once crucified, dead and buried, now 



$§'i /8 sits upon the throne of glory. The highest place 
$yiP *> that heaven affords is His by undisputed right. It is 
sweet to remember that the exaltation of Christ in heaven is 
a representative exaltation. He is exalted at the Father's right 
hand, and though as Jehovah He has eminent glories, in 
which finite creatures cannot share, yet as the Mediator, the 
honors which Jesus wears in heaven are the heritage of all 
the saints. It is delightful to reflect how close is Christ's 
union with His people. We are actually one with Him ; we 
are members of His body; and His exaltation is our exaltation. 
He will give us to sit upon His throne, even as He has over- 
come, and is set down with His Father on His throne : He 
has a crown, and He gives us crowns too : He has a throne, 
but He is not content with having a throne to Himself; on 
His right hand there must be His queen, arrayed in " gold 
of Ophir." He cannot be glorified without His bride. Look 
up, believer, to Jesus now ; let the eye of your faith behold 
Him with many crowns upon His head ; and remember that 
you will one day be like Him, when you shall see Him as He 
is ; you shall not be so great as He is, you shall not be so 
divine, but still you shall, in a measure, share the same hon- 
ors, and enjoy the same happiness and the same dignity which 
He possesses. Be content to live unknown for a little while, 
and to walk your weary way through the fields of poverty, 
or up the hills of affliction ; for by and by you shall reign 
with Christ, for He has " made us kings and priests unto 
God, and we shall reign forever and ever." Oh ! wonderful 
thought for the children of God ! We have Christ for our 
glorious representative in heaven's courts now, and soon He 
will come and receive us to Himself, to be with Him there, 
to behold His glory, and to share in His joy. 
10* 




114 DAILY READINGS. April 23. 

" Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him 
that loved us." — Romans viii. 37. 

y^CjB go to Christ for forgiveness, and then too often look 
to the law for power to fight our sins. Paul thus 
rebukes us : " foolish Gralatians, who hath bewitched 
you, that ye should not obey the truth ? This only would I 
learn of you : Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, 
or by the hearing of faith ? Are ye so foolish ? Having begun 
in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh ? " Take 
your sins to Christ's cross, for the old man can only be cruci- 
fied there : we are crucified with Him. The only weapon to 
fight sin with is the spear which pierced the side of Jesus. 
To give an illustration — you want to overcome an angry 
temper ; how do you go to work ? It is very possible you 
have never tried the right way of going to Jesus with it. 
How did I get salvation ? I came to Jesus just as I was, 
and I trusted him to save me. I must kill my angry temper 
in the same way. It is the only way in which I can ever 
kill it. I must go to the cross with it, and say to Jesus, 
" Lord, I trust Thee to deliver me from it." This is the only 
way to give it a death-blow. Are you covetous J Do you 
feel the world entangle you ? You may struggle against this 
evil so long as you please, but if it be your besetting sin, you 
will never be delivered from it in any way but by the blood 
of Jesus. Take it to Christ. Tell Him, " Lord, I have 
trusted Thee, and Thy name is Jesus, for Thou dost save 
Thy people from their sins ; Lord, this is one of my sins ; save 
me from it ! " Ordinances are nothing without Christ as a 
means of mortification. Your prayers, and your repentances, 
and your tears — the whole of them put together — are worth 
nothing apart from Him. " None but Jesus can do helpless 
sinners good; " or helpless saints either. You must be con- 
querors through Him who hath loved you, if conquerors at all. 
Our laurels must grow among His olives in Gethsemane. 




April 24. DAILY READINGS. 115 

" And because of all this we make a sure covenant." 
Nehemiah ix. 38. 

gHERE are many occasions in our experience when 
we may very rightly, and with benefit, renew our 
covenant with God. After recovery from sickness, 
when, like Hezekiah, we have had a new term of years 
added to our life, we may fitly do it. After any deliverance 
from trouble, when our joys bud forth anew, let us again visit 
the foot of the cross, and renew our consecration. Espe- 
cially, let us do this after any sin which has grieved the Holy 
Spirit, or brought dishonor upon the cause of God ; let us 
then look to that blood which can make us whiter than snow, 
and again offer ourselves unto the Lord. We should not 
only let our troubles confirm our dedication to God, but our 
•prosperity should do the same. If we ever meet with occa- 
sions which deserve to be called " crowning mercies," then, 
surely, if He hath crowned us, we ought also to crown our 
God; let us bring forth anew all the jewels of the divine 
regalia which have been stored in the jewel-closet of our 
heart, and let our God sit upon the throne of our love, ar- 
rayed in royal apparel. If we would learn to profit by our 
prosperity, we should not need so much adversity. If we 
would gather from a kiss all the good it might confer upon 
us, we should not so often smart under the rod. Have we 
lately received some blessing which we little expected ? Has 
the Lord put our feet in a large room ? Can we sing of mer- 
cies multiplied ? Then this is the day to put our hand upon 
the horns of the altar, and say, " Bind me here, my God; bind 
me here with cords, even forever." Inasmuch as we need 
the fulfilment of new promises from God, let us offer renewed 
prayers that our old vows may not be dishonored. Let us 
this morning make with Him a sure covenant, because of 
the pains of Jesus which for the last month we have been 
considering with gratitude. 




>A 



116 DAILY HEADINGS. April 25. 

" Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away" 
Canticles ii. 10. 

SSO, I hear the voice of my Beloved ! He speaks to me ! 
Fair weather is smiling upon the face of the earth, 
and He would not have me spiritually asleep while 
nature is all around me awaking from her winter's rest. He 
bids me, " Rise up," and well He may, for I have long enough 
been lying among the pots of worldliness. He is risen, I 
am risen in Him ; why then should I cleave unto the dust ? 
From lower loves, desires, pursuits, and aspirations, I would 
rise towards Him. He calls me by the sweet title of " My 
love," and counts me fair ; this is a good argument for my ris- 
ing. If He has thus exalted me, and thinks me thus comely, 
how can I linger in the tents of Kedar and find congenial 
associates among the sons of men ? He bids me, " Come 
away." Farther and farther from everything selfish, grovel- 
ling, worldly, sinful, He calls me ; yea, from the outwardly 
religious world which knows Him not, and has no Sympathy 
with the mystery of the higher life, He calls me. " Come 
away" has no harsh sound in it to my ear, for what is there 
to hold me in this wilderness of vanity and sin ? my Lord, 
would that I could come away ; but I am taken among the 
thorns, and cannot escape from them as I would. I would, 
if it were possible, have neither eyes, nor ears, nor heart for 
sin. Thou callest me to Thyself by saying, " Come away," 
and this is a melodious call indeed. To come to Thee is to 
come home from exile, to come to land out of the raging 
storm, to come to rest after long labor, to come to the goal 
of my desires and the summit of my wishes. But, Lord, how 
can a stone rise ? how can a lump of clay come away from 
the horrible pit ? raise me, draw me. Thy grace can do 
it. Send forth Thy Holy Spirit to kindle sacred flames of 
love in my heart, and I will continue to rise until I leave 
life and time behind me, and indeed come away. 



April 26. DAILY READINGS. 117 

" This do in remembrance of Me" — 1 Corinthians xi. 24. 

**?3f|$jT seems, then, that Christians may forget Christ ! 
cp|l |^ There could be no need for this loving exhortation, 



vk ^ if there were not a fearful supposition that our mem- 
ories might prove treacherous. Nor is this a bare supposi- 
tion ; it is, alas ! too well confirmed in our experience, not 
as a possibility, but as a lamentable fact. It appears almost 
impossible that those who have been redeemed by the blood 
of the dying Lamb, and loved with an everlasting love by the 
eternal Son of God, should forget that gracious Saviour ; but, 
if startling to the ear, it is, alas ! too apparent to the eye to 
allow us to deny the crime. Forget Him who never forgot 
us ! Forget Him who poured His blood forth for our sins ! 
Forget Him who loved us even to the death ! Can it be pos- 
sible ? Yes, it is not only possible, but conscience confesses 
that it is too sadly a fault with all of us, that we suffer Him 
to be as a wayfaring man tarrying but for a night. He 
whom we should make the abiding tenant of our memories 
is but a visitor therein. The cross where one would think 
that memory would linger, and unmindfulness would be an 
unknown intruder, is desecrated by the feet of forgetfulness. 
Does not your conscience say that this is true ? Do you not 
find yourselves forgetful of Jesus ? Some creature steals 
away your heart, and you are unmindful of Him upon whom 
your affection ought to be set. Some earthly business en- 
grosses your attention when you should fix your eye steadily 
upon the cross. It is the incessant turmoil of the world, 
the constant attraction of earthly things, which takes away 
the soul from Christ. While memory too well preserves a 
poisonous weed, it suffereth the rose of Sharon to wither. 
Let us charge ourselves to bind a heavenly forget-me-not 
about our hearts for Jesus our Beloved, and whatever else 
we let slip, let us hold fast to Him. 



118 DAILY READINGS. April 27. 

" God, even our own God." — Psalm lxvii. 6. 



ii 



i^T is strange how little use we make of the spiritual 
blessings which God gives us, but it is stranger still 
how little use we make of God Himself. Though 
He is " our own God," we apply ourselves but little to Him, 
and ask but little of Him. How seldom do we ask coun- 
sel at the hands of the Lord ! How often do we go about 
our business without seeking His guidance ! In our trou- 
bles how constantly do we strive to bear our burdens 
ourselves, instead of casting them upon the Lord, that 
He may sustain us ! This is not because we may not, for 
the Lord seems to say, " I am thine, soul ; come and make 
use of me as thou wilt ; thou mayst freely come to my 
store, and the oftener the more welcome." It is our own 
fault if we make not free with the riches of our God. Then, 
since thou hast such a friend, and He invites thee, draw from 
Him daily. Never want whilst thou hast a God to go to ; 
never fear or faint whilst thou hast God to help thee ; go to 
thy treasure and take whatever thou needest — there is all 
that thou canst want. Learn the divine skill of making God 
all things to thee. He can supply thee with all ; or, better 
still, He can be to thee instead of all. Let me urge thee, 
then, to make use of thy God. Make use of Him in prayer. 
Go to Him often, because He is thy God. 0, wilt thou fail 
to use so great a privilege ? Fly to Him, tell Him all thy 
wants. Use Him constantly by faith at all times. If some 
dark providence has beclouded thee, use thy God as a 
" sun ; " if some strong enemy has beset thee, find in Je- 
hovah a " shield ; " for He is a sun and shield to His people. 
If thou hast lost thy way in the mazes of life, use Him as a 
" guide," for He will direct thee. Whatever thou art, and 
wherever thou art, remember God is just ivhat thou wantest, 
and just where thou wantest, and that He can do all thou 
wantest. 




April 28. DAILY READINGS. 119 

"Remember the word unto Thy servant, upon which Thou hast 
caused me to hope" — Psalm cxix. 49. 

WHATEVER your especial need may be, you may 
readily find some promise in the Bible suited to it. 
Are you faint and feeble because your way is rough 
and you are weary? Here is the promise — "He giveth 
power to the faint." When you read such a promise, take 
it back to the great Promiser, and ask Him to fulfil His own 
word. Are you seeking after Christ, and thirsting for closer 
communion with Him ? This promise shines like a star upon 
you — " Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after right- 
eousness, for they shall be filled." Take that promise to the 
throne continually ; do not plead anything else, but go to 
Grod over and over again with this — " Lord, Thou hast said 
it ; do as Thou hast said." Are you distressed because of 
sin, and burdened with the heavy load of your iniquities ? 
Listen to these words — "I, even I, am He that blotteth out 
thy transgressions, and will no more remember thy sins." 
You have no merit of your own to plead why He should par- 
don you ; but plead His written engagements, and He will 
perform them. Are you afraid lest you should not be able 
to hold on to the end ? lest, after having thought yourself a 
child of God, you should prove a castaway ? If that is your 
state, take this word of grace to the throne and plead it : 
" The mountains may depart, and the hills may be removed, 
but the covenant of My love shall not depart from thee." If 
you have lost the sweet sense of the Saviour's presence, and 
are seeking Him with a sorrowful heart, remember the prom- 
ises : " Return unto Me, and I will return unto you ; " " For 
a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies 
will I gather thee." Banquet your faith upon G-od's own word ; 
and whatever your fears or wants, repair to the Bank of Faith 
with your Father's note of hand, saying, " Remember the word 
unto Thy servant, upon which Thou hast caused me to hope." 




120 daily headings. April 29. 

" Thou art my hope in the day of evil." — Jeremiah xvii. 17. 

*§!HE path of the Christian is not always bright with 
sunshine ; he has his seasons of darkness and of 
storm. True, it is written in God's Word, " Her 
ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace ; " 
and it is a great truth, that religion is calculated to give a 
man happiness below as well as bliss above ; but experience 
tells us that if the course of the just be " as the shining light, 
that shineth more and more unto the perfect day," yet some- 
times that light is eclipsed. At certain periods clouds cover 
the believer's sun, and he walks in darkness and sees no light. 
There are many who have rejoiced in the presence of God for 
a season ; they have basked in the sunshine in the earlier 
stages of their Christian career ; they have walked along the 
" green pastures" by the side of the " still waters," but sud- 
denly they find the glorious sky is clouded ; instead of the 
land of Goshen, they have to tread the sandy desert ; in the 
place of sweet waters, they find troubled streams, bitter to 
their taste, and they say, " Surely, if I were a child of God, 
this. would not happen." Oh! say not so, thou who art 
walking in darkness. The best of God's saints must drink 
the wormwood ; the dearest of His children must bear the 
cross. No Christian has enjoyed perpetual prosperity; no 
believer can always keep his harp from the willows. Per- 
haps the Lord allotted you at first a smooth and unclouded 
path, because you were weak and timid. He tempered the 
wind to the shorn lamb ; but now that you are stronger in 
the spiritual life, you must enter upon the riper and rougher 
experience of God's full-grown children. We need winds 
and tempests to exercise our faith, to tear off the rotten 
bough of self-dependence, and to root us more firmly in 
Christ. The day of evil reveals to us the value of our glori- 
ous hope. 




April 30. DAILY READINGS. 121 

" And all the children of Israel murmured." — Num. xiv. 2. 

jBERE are murmurers amongst Christians now, as 
^$| there were in the camp of Israel of old. There are 
those who, when the rod falls, cry out against the af- 
flictive dispensation. They ask, " Why am I thus afflicted ? 
What have I done to be chastened in this manner ? " A word 
with thee, murmur er ! Why shouldst thou murmur against 
the dispensations of thy heavenly Father ? Can He treat 
thee more hardly than thou deservest ? Consider what a rebel 
thou wast once, but He has pardoned thee ! Surely, if He 
in His wisdom sees fit now to chasten thee, thou shouldst not 
complain. After all, art thou smitten as hardly as thy sins 
deserve ? Consider the corruption which is in thy breast, 
and then wilt thou wonder that there needs so much of the 
rod to fetch it out ? Weigh thyself, and discern how much 
dross is mingled with thy gold ; and dost thou think the fire 
too hot to purge away so much dross as thou hast ? Does not 
that proud rebellious spirit of thine prove that thy heart is 
not thoroughly sanctified ? Are not those murmuring words 
contrary to the holy submissive nature of God's children ? 
Is not the correction needed ? But if thou wilt murmur 
against the chastening, take heed, for it will go hard with 
murmurers. God always chastises His children twice, if they 
do not bear the first stroke patiently. But know one thing 
— " He doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of 
men." All His corrections are sent in love, to purify thee, 
and to draw thee nearer to Himself. Surely it must help 
thee to bear the chastening with resignation if thou art able 
to recognize thy Father's hand. For " whom the Lord loveth 
He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. 
If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons." 
" Murmur not as some of them also murmured and were de- 
stroyed of the destroyer." 
11 



122 DAILY HEADINGS. May 1. 

" His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers ." — Cant. v. 13. 

§^0, the flowery month is come ! March winds and 
April showers have done their work, and the earth 
is all bedecked with beauty. Come, my soul, put on 
thine holiday attire, and go forth to gather garlands of heav- 
enly thoughts. Thou knowest whither to betake thyself, 
for to thee the " beds of spices " are well known, and thou 
hast so often smelt the perfume of the " sweet flowers," that 
thou wilt go at once to thy well-beloved and find all loveli- 
ness, all joy in Him. That cheek once so rudely smitten 
with a rod, oft bedewed with tears of sympathy, and then 
defiled with spittle — that cheek, as it smiles with mercy, is 
as fragrant aromatic to my heart. Thou didst not hide Thy 
face from shame and spitting, Lord Jesus, and therefore 
I will find my dearest delight in praising Thee. Those 
cheeks were furrowed by the plough of grief, and crimsoned 
with red lines of blood from Thy thorn-crowned temples ; 
such marks of love unbounded cannot but charm my soul far 
more than " pillars of perfume." If I may not see the whole 
of His face, I would behold His cheeks, for the least glimpse 
of Him is exceedingly refreshing to my spiritual sense, and 
yields a variety of delights. In Jesus I find not only fra- 
grance, but a bed of spices ; not one flower, but all manner of 
sweet flowers. He is to me my rose and my lily, my hearts- 
ease and my cluster of camphor. When he is with me, it is 
May all the year round, and my soul goes forth to wash her 
happy face in the morning-dew of His grace, and to solace 
herself with the singing of the birds of His promises. Pre- 
cious Lord Jesus, let me in very deed know the blessedness 
which dwells in abiding, unbroken fellowship with Thee. 
I am a poor worthless one, whose cheek Thou hast deigned 
to kiss. let me kiss Thee, in return, with the kisses of my 
lips. 




May 2. daily headings. 123 

— ; 

" I pray not that Thou shouldst take them out of the world" 
John xvii. 15. 

T is a sweet and blessed event which will occur to all 
believers in Grod's own time — the going home to be 
with Jesus. In a few more years the Lord's soldiers, 
who are now fighting " the good fight of faith," will have 
done with conflict, and have entered into the joy of their 
Lord. But although Christ prays that His people may event- 
ually be with Him where He is, He does not ask that they 
may be taken at once away from this world to heaven. He 
wishes them to stay here. Yet how frequently does the 
wearied pilgrim put up the prayer, " that I had wings like 
a dove, for then would I flee away aud be at rest ! " but Christ 
does not pray like that; He leaves us in His Father's hands, 
until, like shocks of corn fully ripe, we shall each be gathered 
into our Master's garner. Jesus does not plead for our in- 
stant removal by death, for to abide in the flesh is needful 
for others, if not profitable for ourselves. He asks that we 
may be kept from evil, but He never asks for us to be ad- 
mitted to the inheritance in glory till we are of full age. 
Christians often want to die when they have any trouble. 
Ask them why, and they tell you, " Because we would be 
with the Lord." We fear it is not so much because they are 
longing to be with the Lord, as because they desire to get rid 
of their troubles ; else they would feel the same wish to die 
at other times, when not under the pressure of trial. They 
want to go home, not so much for the Saviour's company, as 
to be at rest. Now it is quite right to desire to depart, if we 
can do it in the same spirit that Paul did, because to be with 
Christ is far better ; but the wish to escape from trouble is a 
selfish one. Rather let your care and wish be to glorify Gfod 
by your life here as long as He pleases, even though it be in 
the midst of toil, and conflict, and suffering, and leave Him 
to say when " it is enough." 



124 daily headings. May 3. 

" In the world ye shall have tribulation" — John xvi. 33. 

f^RT thou asking the reason of this, believer ? Look 
% upward to thy heavenly Father, and behold Him 
^*^ pure and holy. Dost thou know that thou art one 
day to be like Him ? Wilt thou easily be conformed to His 
image ? Wilt thou not require much refining in the furnace 
of affliction to purify thee } Will it be an easy thing to get 
rid of thy corruptions, and make thee perfect, even as thy 
Father which is in heaven is perfect ? Next, Christian, turn 
thine eye downward. Dost thou know what foes thou hast 
beneath thy feet ? Thou wast once a servant of Satan, 
and no king will willingly lose his subjects. Dost thou think 
that Satan will let thee alone ? No, he will be always at 
thee, for he " goeth about like a roaring lion., seeking whom 
he may devour." Expect trouble therefore, Christian, when 
thou lookest beneath thee. Then look around thee. Where 
art thou ? Thou art in an enemy's country, a stranger 
and a sojourner. The world is not thy friend. If it 
be, then thou art not G-od's friend, for he who is the 
friend of the world is the enemy of Grod. Be assured that 
thou shalt find foemen everywhere. When thou sleepest, 
think that thou art resting on the battle-field; when thou 
walkest, suspect an ambush in every hedge. As mosquitos 
are said to bite strangers more than natives, so will the trials 
of earth be sharpest to you. Lastly, look within thee, into 
thine own heart, and observe what is there. Sin and self 
are still within. Ah ! if thou hadst no devil to tempt thee, no 
enemies to fight thee, and no world to insnare thee, thou 
wouldst still find in thyself evil enough to be a sore trouble 
to thee, for " the heart is deceitful above all things, and des- 
perately wicked." Expect trouble then, but despond not on 
account of it, for Grod is with thee, to help and to strengthen 
thee. He hath said, " I will be with thee in trouble; I will 
deliver thee and honor thee." 



4. * DAILY HEADINGS. 125 

Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods ? " 
Jer. xvi. 20. 

?NE great besetting sin of ancient Israel was idolatry, 
|jM and the spiritual Israel are vexed with a tendency to 
y^V@* the same folly. Remphan's star shines no longer, 
and the women weep no more for Thammuz ; but Mammon 
still intrudes his golden calf, and the shrines of pride are not 
forsaken. Self, in various forms, struggles to subdue the 
chosen ones under, its dominion, and the flesh sets up its al- 
tars wherever it can find space for them. Favorite children 
are often the cause of much sin in believers; the Lord is 
grieved when he sees us doting upon them above measure : 
they will live to be as great a curse to us as Absalom was to 
David, or they will be taken from us to leave our homes deso- 
late. If Christians desire to grow thorns to stuff their sleep- 
less pillows, let them dote upon their dear ones. 

It is truly said that " they are no gods," for the objects of 
our foolish love are very doubtful blessings ; the solace which 
they yield us now is dangerous, and the help which they can 
give us in the hour of trouble is little indeed. Why, then, 
are we so bewitched with vanities ? We pity the poor hea- 
then who adores a god of stone, and yet worship a god of 
gold. Where is the vast superiority between a god of flesh 
and one of wood ? The principle, the sin, the folly is the 
same in either case, only that in ours the crime is more ag- 
gravated, because we have more light, and sin in the face of 
it. The heathen bows to a false deity, but the true G-od he has 
never known ; we commit two evils, inasmuch as we forsake 
the living Grod and turn unto idols. May the Lord purge us 
all from this grievous iniquity. 

" The dearest idol I have known, 

Whate'er that idol be, 
Help me to tear it from thy throne, 

And worship only Thee." 
11* 




126 daily headings. May 5. 

"I will be their God, and they shall be My people" — 2 Cor. vi. 16. 

HAT a sweet title — " My people " ! What a cheering 
^ revelation — "their God" ! How much of meaning 
*^ is couched in those two words, " My people " ! Here 
is speciality. The whole world is God's ; the heaven, even 
the heaven of heavens, is the Lord's, and He reigneth among 
the children of men ; but, of those whom He hath chosen, 
whom He hath purchased to Himself, He saith what He 
saith not of others — " My people." In.this word there is 
the idea of proprietorship. In a special manner the " Lord's 
portion is His people ; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance." 
All the nations upon earth are His ; the whole world is in 
His power ; yet are His people, His chosen, more especially 
His possession ; for He has done more for them than others ; 
He has bought them with his blood ; He has brought them 
nigh to Himself ; He has set His great heart upon them; 
He has loved them with an everlasting love, a love which 
many waters cannot quench, and which the revolutions of 
time shall never suffice in the least degree to diminish. 
Dear friends, can you, by faith, see yourselves in that num- 
ber ? Can you look up to heaven, and say, " My Lord and 
my God ; mine by that sweet relationship which entitles me to 
call Thee Father ; mine by that hallowed fellowship which I 
delight to hold with Thee when Thou art pleased to manifest 
Thyself unto me as Thou dost not unto the world ? " Canst 
thou read the Book of Inspiration, and find there the inden- 
tures of thy salvation ? Canst thou read thy title writ in 
precious blood ? Canst thou, by humble faith, lay hold of 
Jesus' garments, and say, "My Christ"? If thou canst, 
then God saith of thee, and of others like thee, " My peo- 
ple ; " for, if God be your God, and Christ your Christ, the 
Lord has a special, peculiar favor to you ; you are the ob- 
ject of His choice, accepted in His beloved Son. 




May 6. daily headings. 127 

" We dwell in Him."— 1 John iv. 13. 

\0 you want a house for your soul ? Do you ask, 
Wit " What is the purchase ? " It is something less than 
proud human nature will like to give. It is without 
money and without price. Ah ! you would like to pay a re- 
spectable rent ! You would love to do something to win 
Christ ! Then you cannot have the house, for it is " without 
price." Will you take my Master's house on a lease for all 
eternity, with nothing to pay for it, nothing but the ground- 
rent of loving and serving Him forever ? Will you take 
Jesus, and " dwell in Him " ? See, this house is furnished 
with all you want ; it is filled with riches more than you will 
spend as long as you live. Here you can have intimate 
communion with Christ, and feast on His love ; here are ta- 
bles well stored with food for you to live on forever ; in it, 
when weary, you can find rest with Jesus ; and from it you 
can look out, and see heaven itself. Will you have the 
house ? Ah ! if you are houseless, you will say, " I should 
like to have the house ; but may I have it ? " Yes ; there is 
the key — the key is, "Come to Jesus." "But," you say, 
" I am too shabby for such a house." Never mind ; there 
are garments inside. If you feel guilty and condemned, 
come ; and, though the house is too good for you, Christ 
will make you good enough for the house by and by. He 
will wash you and cleanse you, and you will yet be able to 
sing, " We dwell in Him." Believer ! thrice happy art thou 
to have such a dwelling-place ! Greatly privileged thou art, 
for thou hast a " strong habitation " in which thou art ever 
safe. And, " dwelling in Him," thou hast not only a per- 
fect and secure house, but an everlasting one. When this 
world shall have melted like a dream, our house shall live, 
and stand more imperishable than marble, more solid than 
granite, self-existent as God, for it is God Himself. " We 
dwell in Him." 




128 daily readings. May 7. 

" Multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all." — Matt. xii. 15. 

[JHAT a mass of hideous sickness must have thrust it- 
self under the eye of Jesus ! Yet we read not that 
He was disgusted, but patiently waited on every 
case. What a singular variety of evils must have met at 
His feet ! What sickening ulcers and putrefying sores ! Yet 
He was ready for every new shape of the monster evil, and 
was victor over it in every form. Let the arrow fly from 
what quarter, it might, He quenched its fiery power. The 
heat of fever, or the cold of dropsy ; the lethargy of palsy, 
or the rage of madness ; the filth of leprosy, or the darkness 
of ophthalmia, — all knew the power of His word, and fled at 
His command. In every corner of the field He was trium- 
phant over evil, and received the homage of delivered cap- 
tives. He came, He saw, He conquered everywhere. It is 
even so this morning. Whatever my own case may be, the 
beloved Physician can heal me ; and whatever may be the 
state of others whom I may remember at this moment in 
prayer, I may have hope in Jesus that He will be able to 
heal them of their sins. My child, my friend, my dearest 
one, I can have hope for each, for all, when I remember the 
healing power of my Lord ; and on my own account, however 
severe my struggle with sins and infirmities, I may yet be 
of good cheer. He who on earth walked the hospitals still 
dispenses His grace, and works wonders among the sons of 
men : let me go to Him at once in right earnest. Let me 
praise Him, this morning, as I remember how He wrought 
His spiritual cures, which bring Him most renown. It was 
by taking upon Himself our sicknesses. " By His stripes we 
are healed." The Church on earth is full of souls healed by 
our beloved Physician ; and the inhabitants of heaven itself 
confess that " He healed them all." Come, then, my soul, pub- 
lish abroad the virtue of His grace, and let it be " to the Lord 
for a name, for an everlasting sign which shall not be cut off." 



May 8. daily headings. 129 

" He that was healed wist not who it was." — John v. 13. 

r ; ^E AXIS are snort to the happy and healthy ; but thirty- 
1$) eight years of disease must have dragged a very 
weary length along the life of the poor impotent man. 
When Jesus, therefore, healed him by a word, while 
he lay at the pool of Bethesda, he was delightfully sensible 
of a change. Even so the sinner, who has for weeks and 
months been paralyzed with despair, and has wearily sighed 
for salvation, is very conscious of the change when the Lord 
Jesus speaks the word of power, and gives joy and peace in 
believing. The evil removed is too great to be removed with- 
out our discerning it ; the life imparted is too remarkable to be 
possessed, and remain inoperative; and the change wrought is 
too marvellous not to be perceived. Yet the poor man was 
ignorant of the author of his cure ; he knew not the sacredness 
of His person, the offices which He sustained, or the errand 
which brought Him among men. Much ignorance of Jesus 
may remain in hearts which yet feel the power of His blood. 
"We must not hastily condemn men for lack of knowledge ; 
but where we can see the faith which saves the soul, we must 
believe that salvation has been bestowed. The Holy Spirit 
makes men penitents long before He makes them divines ; 
and he who believes what he knows shall soon know more 
clearly what he believes. Ignorance is, however, an evil ; 
for this poor man was much tantalized by the Pharisees, and 
was quite unable to cope with them. It is good to be able 
to answer gainsayers ; but we cannot do so if we know not 
the Lord Jesus clearly, and with understanding. The cure 
of his ignorance, however, soon followed the cure of his in- 
firmity, for he was visited by the Lord in the temple; and, 
after that gracious manifestation, he was found testifying 
that " it was Jesus who had made him whole." Lord, if 
Thou hast saved me, show me Thyself, that I may declare 
Thee to the sons of men. 




130 daily headings. May 9. 

" Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings." — Eph. i. 3. 

^jLL the goodness of the past, the present, and the 
« future, Christ bestows upon His people. In the mys- 
terious ages of the past, the Lord Jesus was His 
Father's first elect, and in His election He gave us an interest, 
for we were chosen in him from before the foundations of the 
world. He had from all eternity the prerogatives of Sonship, 
as His Father's only-begotten and well-beloved Son ; and He 
has, in the riches of His grace, by adoption and regenera- 
tion, elevated us to Sonship also, so that to us He has given 
" power to become the sons of Grod." The eternal covenant, 
based upon suretyship and confirmed by oath, is ours, for our 
strong consolation and security. In the everlasting settlements 
of predestinating wisdom and omnipotent decree, the eye of 
the Lord Jesus was ever fixed on us ; and we may rest as- 
sured that in the whole roll of destiny there is not a line 
which militates against the interests of His redeemed. The 
great betrothal of the Prince of Grlory is ours, for it is to us 
that He is affianced, as the sacred nuptials shall ere long de- 
clare to an assembled universe. The marvellous incarnation 
of the Grod of heaven, with all the amazing condescension 
and humiliation which attended it, is ours. The bloody 
sweat, the scourge, the cross, are ours forever. Whatever 
blissful consequences flow from perfect obedience, finished 
atonement, resurrection, ascension, or intercession, all are ours 
by His own gift. Upon His breastplate He is now bearing our 
names ; and in His authoritative pleadings at the throne He 
remembers our persons and pleads our cause. His dominion 
over principalities and powers, and His absolute majesty in 
heaven, He employs for the benefit of them who trust in Him. 
His high estate is as much at our service as was His con- 
dition of abasement. He who gave Himself for us in the 
depths of woe and death, doth not withdraw the grant now 
that He is enthroned in the highest heavens. 




May 10. DAILY READINGS. 131 

" But now is Christ risen from the dead." — 1 Cor. xv. 20. 

|g^*|^HE whole system of Christianity rests upon the fact 
that "Christ is risen from the dead ;" for, " if Christ 
be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your 
faith is also vain : ye are yet in your sins." The divinity of 
Christ finds its surest proof in His resurrection, since He 
was " declared to be the Son of God with power, according 
to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." 
It would not be unreasonable to doubt His deity if He had 
not risen. Moreover, Christ's sovereignty depends upon His 
resurrection, " for to this end Christ both died, and rose, 
and revived, that He might be Lord both of the dead and 
living." Again, our justification , that choice blessing of the 
covenant, is linked with Christ's triumphant victory over 
death and the grave ; for " He was delivered for our offences, 
and was raised again for our justification." Nay, more, our 
very regeneration is connected with His resurrection ; for we 
are " begotten again unto a lively hope by the resurrection 
of Jesus Christ from the dead." And most certainly our 
ultimate resurrection rests here ; for " if the Spirit of Him 
that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that 
raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal 
bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you." If Christ be not 
risen, then shall we not rise ; but if He be risen, then they who 
are asleep in Christ have not perished, but in their flesh shall 
surely behold their God. Thus, the silver thread of resurrec- 
tion runs through all the believer's blessings, from his regen- 
eration onwards to his eternal glory, and binds them together. 
How important, then, will this glorious fact be in his estima- 
tion, and how will he rejoice that beyond a doubt it is estab- 
lished, that " now is Christ risen from the dead " ! 

" The promise is fulfilled, 

Redemption's work is done, 
Justice with mercy 's reconciled, 
For God has raised His Son." 




132 DAILY HEADINGS. May 11. 

"I am with you alway." — Matthew xxviii. 20. 

'¥jjT is well there is One who is ever the same, and who 
^j is ever with us. It is well there is one stable rock 
amidst the billows of the sea of life. O my soul, set 
not thine affections upon rusting, moth-eaten, decaying treas- 
ures, but set thine heart upon Him who abides forever faith- 
ful to thee. Build not thine house upon the moving quick- 
sands of a deceitful world, but found thy hopes upon this 
Rock, which, amid descending rain and roaring floods, shall 
stand immovably secure. My soul, I charge thee, lay up 
thy treasure in the only secure cabinet; store thy jewels, 
where thou canst never lose them. Put thine all in Christ : 
set all thine affections on His person, all thy hope in His 
merit, all thy trust in His efficacious blood, all thy joy in His 
presence, and so thou mayst laugh at loss, and defy destruc- 
tion. Remember that all the flowers in the world's garden fade 
by turns, and the day cometh when nothing will be left but 
the black, cold earth. Death's black extinguisher must soon 
put out thy candle. Oh ! how sweet to have sunlight when the 
candle is gone ! The dark flood must soon roll between thee 
and all thou hast ; then wed thine heart to Him who will 
never leave thee; trust thyself with Him who will go with 
thee through the black and surging current of death's stream, 
and who will land thee safely on the celestial shore, and 
make thee sit with Him in heavenly places forever. Go, 
sorrowing son of affliction, tell thy secrets to the Friend who 
sticketh closer than a brother. Trust all thy concerns with 
Him who never can be taken from thee, who will never 
leave thee, and who will never let thee leave Him, even 
" Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever." 
" Lo, I am with you alway," is enough for my soul to live 
upon, let who will forsake me. 




May 12. daily headings. 133 

" And will manifest myself to Him." — John xiv. 21. 

f*gHE Lord Jesus gives special revelations of Himself to 
His people. Even if Scripture did not declare this, 
there are many of the children of God who could 
testify the truth of it from their own experience. They have 
had manifestations of their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ 
in a peculiar manner, such as no mere reading or hearing 
could afford. In the biographies of eminent saints, you will 
find many instances recorded in which Jesus has been 
pleased, in a very special manner, to speak to their souls, 
and to unfold the wonders of His person ; yea, so have their 
souls been steeped in happiness that they have thought them- 
selves to be in heaven, whereas they were not there, though 
they were well nigh on the threshold of it — for when Jesus 
manifests Himself to His people, it is heaven on earth ; it is 
paradise in embryo ; it is bliss begun. Especial manifesta- 
tions of Christ exercise a holy influence on the believer's 
heart. One effect will be humility. If a man says, " I have 
had such and such spiritual communications, I am a great 
man," he has never had any communion with Jesus at all ; 
for " God hath respect unto the lowly ; but the proud He 
knoweth afar off." He does not need to come near them to 
know them, and will never give them any visits of love. 
Another effect will be happiness ; for in God's presence there 
are pleasures forevermore. Holiness will be sure to follow. 
A man who has no holiness has never had this manifestation. 
Some men profess a great deal ; but we must not believe 
any one unless we see that his deeds answer to what he says. 
" Be not deceived, God is not mocked." He will not bestow 
His favors upon the wicked : for while He will not cast away 
a perfect man, neither will He respect an evil doer. Thus 
there will be three effects of nearness to Jesus— humility, hap- 
piness, and holiness. May God give them to thee, Christian ! 
12 



184 daily readings. May 13. 

"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." 
Psalm xxx. 5. 



^g^HBISTIAN ! if thou art in a night of trial, think of 

Mil the morrow ; cheer up thy heart with the thought of 

^^ the coming of thy Lord. Be patient, for 

" Lo ! He comes with clouds descending." 

Be patient ! The Husbandman waits until He reaps His 

harvest. Be patient ; for you know who has said, " Behold, 

I come quickly ; and my reward is with me, to give to every 

man according as his work shall be." If you are never so 

wretched now, remember 

" A few more rolling suns, at most, 
Will land thee on fair Canaan's coast." 

Thy head may be crowned with thorny troubles now, but it 
shall wear a starry crown ere long ; thy hand may be filled 
with cares — it shall sweep the strings of the harp of heaven 
soon. Thy garments may be soiled with dust now ; they 
shall be white by and by. Wait a little longer. Ah ! how 
despicable our troubles and trials will seem when we look 
back upon them ! Looking at them here in the prospect, 
they seem immense ; but when we get to heaven we shall 
then 

" "With transporting joys recount 
The labors of our feet." 

Our trials will then seem light and momentary afflictions. Let 
us go on boldly ; if the night be never so dark, the morning 
cometh, which is more that they can say who are shut up in 
the darkness of hell. Do you know what it is thus to live on 
the future — to live on expectation — to antedate heaven ? 
Happy believer, to have so sure, so comforting a hope. It 
may be all dark now, but it will soon be light ; it may be all 
trial now, but it will soon be all happiness. What matters 
it though "weeping may endure for a night," when "joy 
cometh in the morning " ? 




May 14. daily readings. 135 

"Joint heirs with Christ." — Romans viii. 17. 

fjyHE boundless realms of His Father's universe are 
Christ's by prescriptive right. As " heir of all things," 
He is the sole proprietor of the vast creation of G-od, 
and He has admitted us to claim the whole as ours, by virtue 
of that deed of joint-heirship which the Lord hath ratified 
with His chosen people. The golden streets of paradise, the 
pearly gates, the river of life, the transcendent bliss, and the 
unutterable glory, are, by our blessed Lord, made over to us 
for our everlasting possession. All that He has He shares 
with His people. The crown royal He has placed upon the 
head of His Church, appointing her a kingdom, and calling 
her sons a royal priesthood, a generation of priests and kings. 
He uncrowned Himself that we might have a coronation of 
glory ; He would not sit upon His own throne until He had 
procured a place upon it for all who overcome by His blood. 
Crown the head, and the whole body shares the honor. Be- 
hold here the reward of every Christian conqueror ! Christ's 
throne, crown, sceptre, palace, treasure, robes, heritage, are 
yours. Far superior to the jealousy, selfishness, and greed, 
which admit of no participation of their advantages, Christ 
deems His happiness completed by His people sharing it. 
" The glory which thou gavest Me have I given them." 
" These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might 
remain in you, and that your joy might be full." The smiles 
of His Father are all the sweeter to Him, because His people 
share them. The honors of His kingdom are more pleasing, 
because His people appear with Him in glory. More valu- 
able to Him are His conquests, since they have taught His 
people to overcome. He delights in His throne, because on 
it there is a place for them. He rejoices in His royal robes, 
since over them His skirts are spread. He delights the more 
in His joy, because He calls them to enter into it. 




136 daily readings. May 15. 

" All that believe are justified" — Acts xiii. 39. 

||3§[§pE believer in Christ receives a present justification. 
Faith does not produce this fruit by and by, but now. 
So far as justification is the result of faith, it is given 
to the soul in the moment when it closes with Christ, and 
accepts Him as its all in all. Are they who stand before 
the throne of God justified now ? — so are we, as truly and 
as clearly justified as they who walk in white and sing melo- 
dious praises to celestial harps. The thief upon the cross 
was justified the moment that he turned the eye of faith to 
Jesus ; and Paul the aged, after years of service, was not 
more justified than was the thief with no service at all. We 
are to-day accepted in the Beloved, to-day absolved from 
sin, to-day acquitted at the bar of God. 0, soul-trans- 
porting thought ! There are some clusters of Eshcol's vine 
which we shall not be able to gather till we enter heaven ; 
but this is a bough which runneth over the wall. This 
is not as the corn of the land, which we can never eat till 
we cross the Jordan ; but this is part of the manna in the 
wilderness, a portion of our daily nutriment with which 
God supplies us in our journeying to and fro. We are 
now — even now pardoned ; even now are our sins put 
away ; even now we stand in the sight of God accepted, 
as though we had never been guilty. " There is therefore 
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." 
There is not a sin in the Book of God, even now, against 
one of his people. Who dareth to lay anything to their 
charge ? There is neither speck, nor spot, nor wrinkle, 
nor any such thing remaining upon any one believer in 
the matter of justification in the sight of the Judge of all 
the earth. Let present privilege awaken us to present 
duty, and now, while life lasts, let us spend and be spent 
for our sweet Lord Jesus. 




May 16. daily readings. 137 

" Who giveth us richly all things to enjoy." — 1 Timothy vi. 17. 

JUR Lord Jesus is ever giving, and does not for a 
solitary instant withdraw his hand. As long as there 
r ^ is a vessel of grace not yet full to the brim, the oil 
shall not be stayed. He is a sun ever-shining ; He is manna 
always falling round the camp ; He is a rock in the desert, 
ever sending out streams of life from His smitten side ; the 
rain of His grace is always dropping ; the river of His bounty 
is ever flowing, and the well-spring of His love is constantly 
overflowing. As the King can never die, so His grace can 
never fail. Daily we pluck His fruit, and daily His branches 
bend down to our hand with a fresh store of mercy. There 
are seven feast days in His weeks, and as many as are the 
days, so many are the banquets in His years. Who has ever 
returned from His door unblessed ? Who has ever risen from 
His table unsatisfied, or from His bosom un-emparadised ? 
His mercies are new every morning and fresh every evening. 
Who can know the number of His benefits, or recount the list 
of His bounties. Every sand which drops from the glass of 
time is but the tardy follower of a myriad of mercies. The 
wings of our hours are covered with the silver of His kind- 
ness, and with the yellow gold of His affection. The river of 
time bears from the mountains of eternity the golden sands 
of His favor. The countless stars are but as the standard 
bearers of a more innumerable host of blessings. Who can 
count the dust of the benefits which He bestows on Jacob, 
or tell the number of the fourth part of His mercies towards 
Israel ? How shall my soul extol Him who daily loadeth us 
with benefits, and who crowneth us with loving kindness ? 
that my praise could be as ceaseless as His bounty ! miser- 
able tongue, how canst thou be silent ? Wake up, I pray thee, 
lest I call thee no more my glory, but my shame. " Awake, 
psaltery and harp : I myself will awake right early." 
12* 




138 daily readings. May 17. 

" So to walk even as He walked." — 1 John ii. 6. 

;HY should Christians imitate Christ? They should 
do it for their own sakes. If they desire to be in a 
healthy state of soul — if they would escape the sick- 
ness of sin, and enjoy the vigor of growing grace, let Jesus 
be their model. For their own happiness' sake, if they would 
drink wine on the lees, well refined ; if they would enjoy holy 
and happy communion with Jesus ; if they would be lifted up 
above the cares and troubles of this world, let them walk even 
as He walked. There is nothing which can so assist you to 
walk towards heaven with good speed, as wearing the image 
of Jesus on your heart to rule all its motions. It is when, 
by the power of the Holy Spirit, you are enabled to walk with 
Jesus in His very footsteps, that you are most happy, and 
most known to be the sons of God. Peter afar off is both 
unsafe and uneasy. Next, for religion's sake, strive to be like 
Jesus. Ah ! poor religion, thou hast been sorely shot at by 
cruel foes, but thou hast not been wounded one half so dan- 
gerously by thy foes as by thy friends. Who made those 
wounds in the fair hand of godliness ? The professor who 
used the dagger of hypocrisy. The man who, with pretences, 
enters the fold, being nought but a wolf in sheep's clothing, 
worries the flock more than the lion outside. There is no 
weapon half so deadly as a Judas-kiss. Inconsistent pro- 
fessors injure the gospel more than the sneering critic or the 
infidel. But, especially for Christ's oivn sake, imitate His 
example. Christian, lovest thou thy Saviour ? Is His name 
precious to thee ? Is His cause dear to thee ? Wouldst 
thou see the kingdoms of the world become His ? Is it thy 
desire that He should be glorified ? Art thou longing that 
souls should be won to Him ? If so, imitate Jesus ; be an 
" epistle of Christ, known and read of all men." 




May 18. daily readings. 139 

" In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And 
ye are complete in Him" — Colossians ii. 9, 10. 

j^LL the attributes of Christ, as G-od and man, are at 
our disposal. All the fulness of the Godhead, what- 
ever that marvellous term may comprehend, is ours 
to make us complete. He cannot endow us with the attri- 
butes of Deity ; but He has done all that can be done, for He 
has made even His divine power and Godhead subservient 
to our salvation. His omnipotence,. omniscience, omnipres- 
ence, immutability, and infallibility, are all combined for our 
defence. Arise, believer, and behold the Lord Jesus yoking 
the whole of His divine Godhead to the chariot of salvation ? 
How vast His grace, how firm His faithfulness, how unswerv- 
ing His immutability, how infinite His power, how limitless 
His knowledge ! All these are by the Lord Jesus made the 
pillars of the temple of salvation ; and all, without diminution 
of their infinity, are covenanted to us as our perpetual inherit- 
ance. The fathomless love of our Saviour's heart is every 
drop of it ours ; every sinew in the arm of might, every 
jewel in the crown of majesty, the immensity of divine knowl- 
edge, and the sternness of divine justice, all are ours, and 
shall be employed for us. The whole of Christ, in His ador- 
able character as the Son of God, is by Himself made over 
to us most richly to enjoy. His wisdom is our direction, His 
knowledge our instruction, His power our protection, His 
justice our surety, His love our comfort, His mercy our sol- 
ace, and His immutability our trust. He makes no reserve) 
but opens the recesses of the Mount of God, and bids us dig 
in the mines for the hidden treasures. " All, all, all are 
yours," saith He ; " be ye satisfied with favor and full of the 
goodness of the Lord." Oh ! how sweet thus to behold Je- 
sus, and to call upon Him with the certain confidence that in 
seeking the interposition of His love or power, we are but 
asking for that which He has already faithfully promised ! 




140 daily readings. May 19. 

"I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants 
upon the earth." — Ecclesiastes x. 7. 

UPSTARTS frequently usurp the highest places, while 
the truly great pine in obscurity. This is a riddle 
Yj in providence whose solution will one day gladden 
the hearts of the upright ; but it is so common a fact, that 
none of us should murmur if it should fall to our own lot. 
When our Lord was upon earth, although He is the Prince 
of the kings of the earth, yet He walked the footpath of 
weariness and service as the Servant of servants ; what 
wonder is it if His followers, who are princes of the blood, 
should also be looked down upon as inferior and contempti- 
ble persons ? The world is upside down, and therefore the 
first are last, and the last first. See how the servile sons of 
Satan lord it in the earth ! "What a high horse they ride ! 
How they lift up their horn on high ! Haman is in the court, 
while Mordecai sits in the gate ; David wanders on the 
mountains, while Saul reigns in state ; Elijah is complaining 
in the cave, while Jezebel is boasting in the palace ; yet 
who would wish to take the places of the proud rebels ? and 
who, on the other hand, might not envy the despised saints ? 
When the wheel turns, those who are lowest rise, and the high- 
est sink. Patience then, believer ! eternity will right the wrongs 
of time. Let us not fall into the error of letting our passions 
and carnal appetites ride in triumph, while our nobler powers 
walk in the dust. Grace must reign as a prince, and make the 
members of the body instruments of righteousness. The Holy 
Spirit loves order, and He therefore sets our powers and facul- 
ties in due rank and place, giving the highest room to those 
spiritual faculties which link us with the great King ; let us not 
disturb the divine arrangement, but ask for grace that we may 
keep under our body, and bring it into subjection. We were 
not new created to allow our passions to rule over us, but that 
we, as kings, may reign in Christ Jesus over the triple kingdom 
of our spirit, soul, and body, to the glory of God the Father. 




May 20. daily headings. 141 

" Marvellous loving kindness" — Psalm xvii. 7. 

.^HEN we give our hearts with our alms, we give well, 
but we must often plead to a failure in this respect. 
Not so our Master and our Lord. His favors are 
always performed with the love of His heart. He does not 
send to us the cold meat and the broken pieces from the ta- 
ble of His luxury, but He dips our morsel in His own dish, 
and seasons our provisions with the spices of His fragrant 
affections. When He puts the golden tokens of His grace 
into our palms, He accompanies the gift with such a warm 
pressure of our hand,- that the manner of His giving is as 
precious as the boon itself. He will come into our houses 
upon His errands of kindness, and He will not act as some 
austere visitors do in the poor man's cottage, but He sits by 
our side, not despising our poverty, nor blaming our weak- 
ness. Beloved, with what smiles does He speak ! What 
golden sentences drop from His gracious lips ! What em- 
braces of affection does He bestow upon us ! If He had but 
given us farthings, the way of His giving would have gilded 
them ; but as it is, the costly alms are set in a golden basket 
by His pleasant carriage. It is impossible to doubt the sin- 
cerity of His charity, for there is a bleeding heart stamped 
upon the face of all His benefactions. He giveth liberally, 
and upbraideth not. Not one hint that we are burdensome 
to Him ; not one cold look for His poor pensioners ; but He 
rejoices in His mercy, and presses us to His bosom while 
He is pouring out His life for us. There is a fragrance in 
His spikenard which nothing but His heart could produce ; 
there is a sweetness in His honeycomb which could not be 
in it unless the very essence of His soul's affection had been 
mingled with it. Oh ! the rare communion which such sin- 
gular heartiness effecteth ! May we continually taste and 
know the blessedness of it ! 



142 






DAILY READINGS. 




May 21. 


"If so 


be 


ye 


have tasted that the Lord is gr 


actbus" - 


- 1 Peter ii. 3. 



j?rF : — then this is not a matter to be taken for granted 
^j concerning every one of the human race. " If : " — 
^ then there is a possibility and a probability that 
some may not have tasted that the Lord is gracious. "If: " 
— then this is not a general, but a special mercy; and it is 
needful to inquire whether we know the grace of God by 
inward experience. There is no spiritual favor which may 
not be a matter for heart-searching. But while this should 
be a matter of earnest and prayerful inquiry, no one ought 
to be content whilst there is any such thing as an "if" 
about his having tasted that the Lord is gracious. A jealous 
and holy distrust of self may give rise to the question even 
in the believer's heart, but the continuance of such a doubt 
would be an evil indeed. We must not rest without a des- 
perate struggle to clasp the Saviour in the arms of faith, 
and say, *■* I know whom I have believed, and I am per- 
suaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed 
unto Him." Do not rest, 0" believer, till thou hast a full 
assurance of thine interest in Jesus. Let nothing satisfy 
thee till, by the infallible witness of the Holy Spirit bearing 
witness with thy spirit, thou art certified that thou art a 
child of God. Oh, trifle not here ; let no " perhaps," and 
" peradventure," and " if," and " may be," satisfy thy soul. 
Build on eternal verities, and verily build upon them. Get 
the sure mercies of David, and surely get them. Let thine 
anchor be cast into that which is within the veil, and see to 
it that thy soul be linked to the anchor by a cable that will 
not break. Advance beyond these dreary " ifs ; " abide no 
more in the wilderness of doubts and fears ; cross the Jor- 
dan of distrust, and enter the Canaan of peace, where the 
Canaanite still lingers, but where the land ceaseth not to 
flow with milk and honey. 



May 22. daily readings. 143 

"He led them forth by the right way." — Psalm cvii. 7. 

p^^HANG-EFUL experience often leads the anxious be- 
SiH liever to inquire, " Why is it thus with me?" I 
*^ looked for light, but lo, darkness came ; for peace, 
but behold, trouble. I said in my heart, My mountain stand- 
eth firm ; I shall never be moved. Lord, Thou dost hide 
Thy face, and I am troubled. It was but yesterday that I 
could read my title clear ; to-day, my evidences are be- 
dimmed, and my hopes are clouded. Yesterday, I could 
climb to Pisgah's top, and view the landscape o'er, and rejoice 
with confidence in my future inheritance ; to-day, my spirit 
has no hopes, but many fears ; no joys, but much distress. 
Is this part of (rod's plan with me ? Can this be the way in 
which God would bring me to heaven ? Yes, it is even so. 
The eclipse of your faith, the darkness of your mind, the 
fainting of your hope, — all these things are but parts of 
God's method of making you ripe for the great inheritance 
upon which you shall soon enter. These trials are for the 
testing and strengthening of your faith — they are waves 
that wash you farther upon the rock — they are winds which 
waft your ship the more swiftly towards the desired haven. 
According to David's words, so it might be said of you, 
" So He bringeth them to their desired haven." By honor 
and dishonor, by evil report and by good report, by plenty 
and by poverty? by joy and by distress, by persecution and 
by peace, by all these things is the life of your soul main- 
tained, and by each of these are you helped on your way. 
Oh, think not, believer, that your sorrows are out of God's 
plan ; they are necessary parts of it. " We must, through 
much tribulation, enter the kingdom." Learn, then, even 
to " count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations. 17 

" O let my trembling soul be still, 
And wait Thy wise, Thy holy will ; 
I cannot, Lord, Thy purpose see, 
Yet all is well, since ruled by Thee." 



144 daily headings. May 23. 

" The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me." 
Psalm cxxxviii. 8. 

fjJJ|1S2)0ST manifestly the confidence which the Psalmist 
wlw\% here expressed was a divine confidence. He did not 
^ e * L y sav? a i have grace enough to perfect that which 
concerneth me — my faith is so steady that it will not stag- 
ger — my love is so warm that it will never grow cold — my 
resolution is so firm that nothing can move it ; " no, his de- 
pendence was on the Lord alone. If we indulge in any 
confidence which is not grounded on the Rock of Ages, our 
confidence is worse than a dream ; it will fall upon us, and 
cover us with its ruins, to our sorrow and confusion. All 
that nature spins, time will unravel, to the eternal confusion 
of all who are clothed therein. The Psalmist was wise ; he 
rested upon nothing short of the Lord's work. It is the 
Lord who has begun the good work within us ; it is He who 
has carried it on ; and if He does not finish it, it never will 
be complete. If there be one stitch in the celestial garment 
of our righteousness which we are to insert ourselves, then 
we are lost ; but this is our confidence, the Lord who began 
will perfect. He has done it all, must do it all, and will do 
it all. Our confidence must not be in what we have done, 
nor in what we have resolved to do, but entirely in what the 
Lord will do. Unbelief insinuates — "You will never be 
able to stand. Look at the evil of your heaat; you can never 
conquer sin ; remember the sinful pleasures and temptations 
of the world that beset you; you will be certainly allured by 
them and led astray." Ah ! yes, we should indeed perish if 
left to our own strength. If we had alone to navigate our frail 
vessels over so rough a sea, we might well give up the voyuger 
in despair ; but, thanks be to God, He will perfect that which 
concerneth us, and bring us to the desired haven. We can 
never be too confident when we confide in Him alone, and 
never too much concerned to have such a trust. 



May 2-1. daily readings. 145 

" Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer." 
Psalm lxvi. 20. 

MSrN" looking back upon the character of our prayers, if 
igjj we do it honestly, we shall be filled with wonder that 
^* God has ever answered them. There may be some 
who think their prayers worthy of acceptance — as the Phar- 
isee did ; but the true Christian, in a more enlightened 
retrospect, weeps over his prayers, and if he could retrace 
his steps he would desire to pray more earnestly. Eemem- 
ber, Christian, how cold thy prayers have been. When in thy 
closet thou shouldst have wrestled as Jacob did ; but instead 
thereof, thy petitions have been faint and few — far removed 
from that tamable, believing, persevering faith, which cries, 
" I will not let Thee go except Thou bless me." Yet, wonder- 
ful to say, God has heard these cold prayers of thine, and not 
only heard, but answered them. Reflect, also, how unfrc- 
quent have been thy prayers, unless thou hast been in trouble, 
and then thou hast gone often to the mercy-seat ; but when 
deliverance has come, where has been thy constant supplica- 
tion ? Yet, notwithstanding thou hast ceased to pray as 
once thou didst, God has not ceased to bless. When thou 
hast neglected the mercy-seat, God has not deserted it, but 
the bright light of the Shekinah has always been visible be- 
tween the wings of the cherubim. Oh ! it is marvellous that 
the Lord should regard those intermittent spasms of impor- 
tunity which come and go with our necessities. Wliat a God 
is Pie thus to hear the prayers of those who come to Him 
when they have pressiDg wants, but neglect Him when they 
have received a mercy ; who approach Plim when they are 
forced to come, but who almost forget to address Him when 
mercies are plentiful and sorrows are few ! Let His gracious 
kindness in hearing such prayers touch our hearts, so that 
we may henceforth be found "praying always with all prayer 
and supplication in the spirit." 
13 



146 daily readings. May 25. 

"Forsake me not, Lord" — Psalm xxxviii. 21. 

(FREQUENTLY we pray that God would not forsake 
FfpS us in the hour of trial and temptation, but we too 
much forget that we have need to use this prayer at 
all times. There is no moment of our life, however 
holy, in which we can do without His constant upholding. 
Whether in light or in darkness, in communion or in temp- 
tation, we alike need the prayer, "Forsake me not, O Lord." 
" Hold Thou me up, and I shall be safe." A little child, 
while learning to walk, always needs the nurse's aid. The 
ship left by the pilot drifts at once from her course. We 
cannot do without continued aid from above ; let it then be 
your prayer to-day, " Forsake me not." FatSer, forsake 
not Thy child, lest he fall by the hand of the enemy. Shep- 
herd, forsake not Thy lamb, lest he wander from the safety 
of the fold. Great Husbandman, forsake not Thy plant, lest 
it wither and die. "Forsake me not, Lord," now; and 
forsake me not at any moment of my life. Forsake me not 
in my joys, lest they absorb my heart. Forsake me not in 
my sorrows, lest I murmur against Thee. Forsake me not 
in the day of my repentance, lest I lose the hope of pardon, 
and fall into despair ; and forsake me not in the day of my 
strongest faith, lest faith degenerate into presumption. For- 
sake me not, for without Thee I am weak, but with Thee I 
am strong. Forsake me not, for my path is dangerous, and 
full of snares, and I cannot do without Thy guidance. The 
hen forsakes not her brood ; do Thou then evermore cover 
me with Thy feathers, and permit me under Thy wings to 
find my refuge. " Be not far from me, Lord, for trouble 
is near, for there is none to help." " Leave me not, neither 
forsake me, God of my salvation." 

" O, ever in our cleansed breast 

Bid Thine Eternal Spirit rest, 

And make our secret soul to be 

A temple pure and worthy Thee." 




May 26. daily headings . 147 

" Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee" 
Psalm lv. 22. 

^plJgAKE, even though exercised upon legitimate objects, 
if carried to excess, has in it the nature of sin. The 
precept to avoid anxious care is earnestly inculcated 
by our Saviour, again and again ; it is reiterated by the 
apostles ; and it is one which cannot be neglected without 
involving transgression ; for the very essence of anxious care 
is the imagining that we are wiser than God, and the thrust- 
ing ourselves into His place to do for Him that which He has 
undertaken to do for us. We attempt to think of that which 
we fancy He will forget ; we labor to take upon ourselves 
our weary burden, as if He were unable or unwilling to take 
it for us. Now this disobedience to His plain precept, this 
unbelief in His Word, this presumption in intruding upon 
His province, is all sinful. Yet more than this, anxious care 
often leads to acts of sin. He who cannot calmly leave his 
affairs in God's hand, but will carry his own burden, is very 
likely to be tempted to use wrong means to help himself. 
This sin leads to a forsaking of God as our counsellor, and 
resorting instead to human wisdom. This is going to the 
" broken cistern" instead of to the " fountain ; " a sin which 
was laid against Israel of old. Anxiety makes us doubt 
God's loving kindness, and thus our love to Him grows cold ; 
we feel mistrust, and thus grieve the Spirit of God, so that our 
prayers become hindered, our consistent example marred, and 
our life one of self-seeking. Thus want of confidence in 
God leads us to wander far from Him ; but if, through sim- 
ple faith in His promise, we cast each burden as it comes 
upon Him, and are "careful for nothing" because He un- 
dertakes to care for us, it will keep us close to Him, and 
strengthen us against much temptation. " Thou wilt keep 
him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because 
he trusteth in Thee." 



148 daily headings. May 27. 

" So Mephiboslietli dwelt in Jerusalem ; for lie did eat continu- 
ally at the king's table ; and was lame in both his feet. 
2 Samuel ix. 13. 

6J^^)EPHIB0SHETH was no great ornament to a royal 
d^lCli table, yet he had a continual place at David's board, 
^ e * 2 y because the king could see in his face the features 
of the beloved Jonathan. Like Mephibosheth, we may cry 
unto the King of Glory, " What is Thy servant, that Thou 
shouldst look upon such a dead dog as I am ? " but still the 
Lord indulges us with most familiar intercourse with Himself, 
because He sees in our countenances the remembrance of His 
dearly-beloved Jesus. The Lord's people are dear for an- 
other's sake. Such is the love which the Father bears to His 
only begotten, that for His sake He raises His lowly brethren 
from poverty and banishment to courtly companionship, noble 
rank, and royal provision. Their deformity shall not rob them 
of their privileges. Lameness is no bar to sonship ; the crip- 
ple is as much the heir as if he could run like Asahel. Our 
right does not limp, though our might may. A king's table 
is a noble hiding-place for lame legs, and at the gospel feast 
we learn to glory in infirmities, because the power of Christ 
resteth upon us. Yet grievous disability may mar the per- 
sons of the best-loved saints. Here is one feasted by David, 
and yet so lame in both his feet that he could not go up with 
the king when he fled from the city, and was therefore ma- 
ligned and injured by his servant Ziba. Saints whose faith is 
weak, and whose knowledge is slender, are great losers ; they 
are exposed to many enemies, and cannot follow the king 
whithersoever he goeth. This disease frequently arises from 
falls. Bad nursing in their spiritual infancy often causes 
converts to fall into a despondency from which they never 
recover, and sin in other cases brings broken bones. Lord 
help the lame to leap like a hart, and satisfy all Thy people 
with the bread of Thy table ! 




May 28. daily readings. 149 

" Whom He justified, them He also glorified.'' 1 — Rom. viii. 30. 

^pERJE is a precious truth for thee, believer. Thou 
K\ mayst be poor, or in suffering, or unknown, but for 
thine encouragement take a review of thy "calling," 
and the consequences that flow from it, and especially that 
blessed result here spoken of. As surely as thou art God's 
child to-day, so surely shall all thy trials soon be at an 
end, and thou shalt be rich to all the intents of bliss. 
Wait awhile, and that weary head shall wear the crown of 
glory, and that hand of labor shall grasp the palm-branch 
of victory. Lament not thy troubles, but rather rejoice that 
ere long thou wilt be where "there shall be neithar sorrow 
nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain." The 
chariots of fire are at thy door, and a moment will suffice to 
bear thee to the glorified. The everlasting song is almost 
on thy lip. The portals of heaven stand open for thee. 
Think not that thou canst fail of entering into rest. If He 
hath called thee, nothing can divide thee from His love. Dis- 
tress cannot sever the bond ; the fire of persecution cannot 
burn the link ; the hammer of hell cannot break the chain. 
Thou art secure ; that voice which called thee at first, shall 
call thee yet again from earth to heaven, from death's dark 
gloom to immortality's unuttered splendors. Rest assured, 
the heart of Him who has justified thee beats with infinite 
love towards thee. Thou shalt soon be with the glorified, 
where thy portion is ; thou art only waiting here to be made 
meet for the inheritance ; and that done, the wings of angels 
shall waft thee far away to the mount of peace, and joy, and 
blessedness, where 

" Far from a world of grief and sin, 
With God eternally shut in," 

thou shalt rest forever and ever. 
13* 



150 daily headings. May 29. 

" Thou hatest wickedness" — Psalm xlv. 7. 

Ct$E ye angry, and sin not. There can hardly be good- 
ie ness in a man if he be not angry at sin ; he who 
^ loves truth must hate every false way. How our 
Lord Jesus hated it when the temptation came ! Thrice it 
assailed Him in different forms, but ever he met it with, 
" Get thee behind Me, Satan." He hated it in others ; 
none the less fervently because He showed His hate oftener 
in tears of pity than in words of rebuke ; yet what language 
could be more stern, more Elijah-like, than the words, 
" Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye 
devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long 
prayers." He hated wickedness so much that He bled to 
wound it to the heart ; He died that it might die ; He was 
buried that He might bury it in His tomb ; and He rose 
that He might forever trample it beneath His feet. Christ 
is in the Gospel, and that Gospel is opposed to wickedness 
in every shape. Wickedness arrays itself in fair garments, 
and imitates the language of holiness ; but the precepts of 
Jesus,, like His famous scourge of small cords, chase it out 
of the temple, and will not tolerate it in the Church. So 
too in the heart where Jesus reigns, what war there is be- 
tween Christ and Belial ! And when our Redeemer shall 
come to be our Judge, those thundering words, " Depart, 
ye cursed," which are, indeed, but a prolongation of His 
life-teaching concerning sin, shall manifest His abhorrence 
of iniquity. As warm as is His love to sinners, so hot is 
His hatred of sin; as perfect as is His righteousness, so 
complete shall be the destruction of every form of wicked- 
ness. thou glorious champion of right, and destroyer 
of wrong, for this cause hath God, even thy God, anointed 
thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. 



May 30. daily readings. 151 

" Take us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines" 
Canticles ii. 15. 

^§§§1^ LITTLE thorn may cause much suffering. A little 
§p|3j? cloud may hide the sun. Little foxes spoil the 
-^&2* vines; and little sins do mischief to the tender 
heart. These little sins burrow in the soul, and make it 
full of that which is hateful to Christ, so that He will hold 
no comfortable fellowship and communion with us. A great 
sin cannot destroy a Christian, but a little sin can make him 
miserable. Jesus will not walk with His people unless they 
drive out every known sin. He says, " If ye keep My com- 
mandments, ye shall abide in My love, even as I have kept 
My Father's commandments and abide in His love." Some 
Christians very seldom enjoy their Saviour's presence. How 
is this ? Surely it must be an affliction for a tender child to 
be separated from his father. Art thou a child of God, and 
yet satisfied to go on without seeing thy Father's face ? 
What ! thou the spouse of Christ, and yet content without 
His company ! Surely, thou hast fallen into a sad state, for 
the chaste spouse of Christ mourns like a dove without her 
mate, when He has left her. Ask, then, the question, What 
has driven Christ from thee ? He hides His face behind the 
wall of thy sins. That wall may be built up of little pebbles, 
as easily as of great stones. The sea is made of drops ; the 
rocks are made of grains : and the sea which divides thee 
from Christ may be filled with the drops of thy little sins ; 
and the rock which has well nigh wrecked thy bark, may 
have been made by the daily working of the coral insects of 
thy little sins. If thou wouldst live with Christ, and walk 
with Christ, and see Christ, and have fellowship with Christ, 
take heed of " the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our 
vines have tender grapes." Jesus invites you to go with 
Him and take them. He will surely, like Samson, take the 
foxes at once and easily. Gro with Him to the hunting. 



152 daily readings. May 31. 

" The lung also himself passed over the brook Kidron." 
2 Samuel xv. 23. 

JjSjgpvAVID passed that gloomy "brook when flying with his 
^Jft mourning company from his traitor son. The man 
after God's own heart was not exempt from trouble, 
nay, his life was full of it. He was both the Lord's Anoint- 
ed, and the Lord's Afflicted. Why then should we expect 
to escape? At sorrow's gates the noblest of our race have 
waited with ashes on their heads ; wherefore then should we 
complain as though some strange thing had happened unto us. 
The King of kings himself was not favored with a more 
cheerful or royal road. He passed over the filthy ditch of 
Kidron, through which the filth of Jerusalem flowed. God 
had one Son without sin, but not a single child without the 
rod. It is a great joy to believe that Jesus has been tempted 
in all points like as we are. What is our Kidron this morn- 
ing ? It is a faithless friend, a sad bereavement, a slander- 
ous reproach, a dark foreboding ? The King has passed over 
all these. Is it bodily pain, poverty, persecution, or con- 
tempt? Over each of these Kidrons the King has gone 
before us. " In all our afflictions He was afflicted." The 
idea of strangeness in our trials must be banished at once and 
forever, for He, who is the Head of all saints, knows by ex- 
perience the grief which we think so peculiar. All the citi- 
zens of Zion must be free of the Honorable Company of 
Mourners, of which the Prince Immanuel is Head and Captain. 
Notwithstanding the abasement of David, he yet returned 
in triumph to his city, and David's Lord arose victorious 
from the grave ; let us then be of good courage, for we also 
shall win the day. We shall yet with joy draw water out of 
the wells of salvation, though now for a season we have to 
pass by the noxious streams of sin and sorrow. Courage, 
soldiers of the Cross; the King himself triumphed after going 
over Kidron, and so shall you. 



June 1. DAILY READINGS. 153 

" The evening and the morning were the first day." — Genesis i. 5. 



I 



ISJAS it so even in the beginning ? Did light and dark- 
ness divide the realm of time in the first day ? Then 
little wonder is it if I have also changes in my cir- 
cumstances from the sunshine of prosperity to the midnight 
of adversity. It will not always be the blaze of noon even in 
my soul concerns ; I must expect at seasons to mourn the ab- 
sence of my former joys, and seek my Beloved in the night. 
Nor am I alone in this, for all the Lord's beloved ones have 
had to sing the mingled song of judgment and of mercy, of 
trial and deliverance, of mourning and of delight. It is one 
of the arrangements of divine Providence that day and night 
shall not cease, either in the spiritual or natural creation, till 
we reach the land of which it is written, " There is no night 
there." What our heavenly Father ordains is wise and good. 
What then, my soul, is it best for thee to do ? Learn first 
to be content with this divine order, and be willing with Job 
to receive evil from the hand of the Lord as well as good. 
Study next to make the outgoings of the morning and the even- 
ing to rejoice. Praise the Lord for the sun of joy when it 
rises, and for the gloom of evening as it falls. There is 
beauty both in sunrise and sunset ; sing of it, and glorify the 
Lord. Like the nightingale, pour forth thy notes at all 
hours. Believe that the night is as useful as the day. The 
dews of grace fall heavily in the night of sorrow. The stars 
of promise shine forth gloriously amid the darkness of 
grief. Continue thy service under all changes. If in the 
day thy watchword be labor, at night exchange it for ivatch. 
Every hour has its duty ; do thou continue in thy calling as 
the Lord's servant until He shall suddenly appear in his 
glory. My soul, thine evening of old age and death is 
drawing near ; dread it not, for it is part of the day ; and 
the Lord has said, "I will cover him all the day long." 



154 DAILY HEADINGS. June 2. 

"For the flesh lusteth agains tthe Spirit, and the Spirit against 
the flesh."— Gal. v. 17. 



MN every believer's heart there is a constant struggle 



•Sll^ between the old nature and the new. The old na- 
ture is very active, and loses no opportunity of ply- 
ing all the weapons of its deadly armory against new-born 
grace ; while, on the other hand, the new nature is ever on 
the watch to resist and destroy its enemy. Grace within us 
will employ prayer, and faith, and hope, and love, to cast 
out the evil ; it takes unto it the "whole armor of God," and 
wrestles earnestly. These two opposing natures will never 
cease to struggle so long as we are in this world. The bat- 
tle of " Christian " with " Apollyon " lasted three hours, but 
the battle of Christian with himself lasted all the way from 
the Wicket Gate to the River Jordan. The enemy is so se- 
curely intrenched within us that he can never be driven out 
while we are in this body : but although we are closely be- 
set, and often in sore conflict, we have an Almighty Helper, 
even Jesus, the Captain of our salvation, who is ever with 
us, and who assures us that we shall eventually come off 
more than conquerors through Him. With such assistance, 
the new-born nature is more than a match for its foes. Are 
you fighting with the adversary to-day? Are Satan, the 
world, and the flesh, all against you ? Be not discouraged 
nor dismayed. Fight on ! For God Himself is with you ; 
Jehovah Nissi is your banner, and Jehovah Rophi is the 
healer of your wounds. Fear not ; you shall overcome ; for 
who can defeat Omnipotence ? Fight on, " looking unto 
Jesus ; " and, though long and stern be the conflict, sweet 
will be the victory, and glorious the promised reward. 

" From strength to strength go on ; 
Wrestle, and fight, and pray, 
Tread all the powers of darkness down, 
And win the well- fought day." 




Julie 3. DAILY HEADINGS. 155 

" These were potters, and those that dwelt among plants and hedges : 
there they dwelt with the king for his work" — 1 Chron. iv. 23. 

JOTTERS were not the very highest grade of workers, 
v> but "the king" needed potters, and therefore they 
were in royal service, although the material upon 
which they worked was nothing but clay. We, too, may be 
engaged in the most menial part of the Lord's work, but it 
is a great privilege to do anything for " the king ; " and 
therefore we will abide in our calling, hoping that, " although 
we have lien among the pots, yet shall we be as the wings 
of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow 
gold." The text tells us of those who dwelt among plants 
and hedges, having rough, rustic, hedging and ditching work 
to do. They may have desired to live in the city, amid its 
life, society, and refinement, but they kept their appointed 
places, for they also were doing the king's work. The place 
of our habitation is fixed, and we are not to remove from it 
out of whim and caprice, but seek to serve the Lord in it, by 
being a blessing to those among whom we reside. These 
potters and gardeners had royal company, for they dwelt 
" with the king," and although among hedges and plants, 
they dwelt with the king there. No lawful place, or gracious 
occupation, however mean, can debar us from communion 
with our divine Lord. In visiting hovels, swarming lodging- 
houses, workhouses, or jails, we may go with the king. In all 
works of faith we may count upon Jesus' fellowship. It is when 
we are in His work that we may reckon upon His smile. Ye un- 
known workers, who are occupied for your Lord amid the dirt 
and wretchedness of the lowest of the low, be of good cheer, 
for jewels have been found upon dunghills ere now, earthen 
pots have been filled with heavenly treasure, and ill weeds 
have been transformed into precious flowers. Dwell ye with 
the King for His work, and when He writes His chronicles 
your name shall be recorded. 




156 daily headings. June 4. 

" The kindness and love of God our Saviour." — Titus iii. 4. 

sweet it is to behold the Saviour communing 
with His own beloved people ! There can be noth- 
ing more delightful than, by the divine Spirit, to be 
led into this fertile field of delight. Let the mind for an 
instant consider the history of the Redeemer's love, and a 
thousand enchanting acts of affection will suggest themselves, 
all of which have had for their design the weaving of the 
heart into Christ, and the intertwisting of the thoughts and 
emotions of the renewed soul with the mind of Jesus. When 
we meditate upon this amazing love, and behold the all- 
glorious Kinsman of the Church endowing her with all His 
ancient wealth, our souls may well faint for joy. Who is he 
that can endure such a weight of love ? That partial sense 
of it which the Holy Spirit is sometimes pleased to afford 
is more than the soul can contain ; how transporting must 
be a complete view of it ! When the soul shall have under- 
standing to discern all the Saviour's gifts, wisdom wherewith 
to estimate them, and time in which to meditate upon them, 
such as the world to come will afford us, we shall then com- 
mune with Jesus in a nearer manner than at present. But 
who can imagine the sweetness of such fellowship ? It must 
be one of the things which have not entered into the heart 
of man, but which God hath prepared for them that love 
Him. Oh, to burst open the door of our Joseph's granaries, 
and see the plenty which He hath stored up for us ! This 
will overwhelm us with love. By faith we see as in a glass 
darkly the reflected image of His unbounded treasures, but 
when we shall actually see the heavenly things themselves, 
with our own eyes, how deep will be the stream of fellowship 
in which our soul shall bathe itself ! Till then, our loudest 
sonnets shall be reserved for our loving benefactor, Jesus 
Christ, our Lord, whose love to us is wonderful, passing the 
love of women. 




June 5. DAILY HEADINGS. 157 

" The Lord shut him in" — Genesis vii. 16. 

^OAH was shut in away from all the world by the hand 
of divine love. The door of electing purpose inter- 
poses between us and the world which lieth in the 
wicked one. We are not of the world, even as our Lord 
Jesus was not of the world. Into the sin, the gayety, the 
pursuits of the multitude we cannot enter ; we cannot play 
in the streets of Vanity Fair with the children of darkness, 
for our heavenly Father has shut us in. Noah was shut in 
with his God. " Come thou into the ark," was the Lord's 
invitation, by which He clearly showed that He himself in- 
tended to dwell in the ark with His servant and his family. 
Thus all the chosen dwell in God and G-od in them. Happy 
people to be enclosed in the same circle which contains God 
in the Trinity of His persons, Father, Son, and Spirit. Let 
us never be inattentive to that gracious call, "Come, my 
people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors 
about thee, and hide thyself as it were for a little moment, 
until the indignation be overpast." Noah was so shut in that 
no evil could reach him. Floods did but lift him heaven-ward, 
and winds did but waft him on his way. Outside of the ark all 
was ruin, but inside all was rest and peace. Without Christ 
we perish, but in Christ Jesus there is perfect safety. Noah 
was so shut in that he could not even desire to come out, and 
those who are in Christ Jesus are in Him forever. They shall 
go no more out forever, for eternal faithfulness has shut 
them in, and infernal malice cannot drag them out. The 
Prince of the house of David shutteth and no man openeth ; 
and when once in the last days, as Master of the house, He 
shall rise up and shut to the door, it will be in vain for mere 
professors to knock, and cry, Lord, Lord, open unto us, for 
that same door which shuts in the wise virgins will shut out 
the foolish forever. Lord, shut me in by Thy grace. 
14 



158 daily readings. June 6. 



Beliold, I am vile," — Job xl. 4. 




^NE cheering word, poor lost sinner, for thee ! You 
think you must not come to Grod because you are 
vile. Now, there is not a saint living on earth but 
has been made to feel that he is vile. If Job, and Isaiah, 
and Paul were all obliged to say, I am vile, oh, poor sinner, 
wilt thou be ashamed to join in the same confession. If 
divine grace does not eradicate all sin from the believer, how 
dost thou hope to do it thyself ? and if God loves His people 
while they are yet vile, dost thou think thy vileness will pre- 
vent His loving thee ? Believe on Jesus, thou outcast of the 
world's society ! Jesus calls thee, and such as thou art. 

" Not the righteous, not the righteous ; 
Sinners, Jesus came to call." 

Even now say, " Thou hast died for sinners ; I am a sinner. 

Lord Jesus, sprinkle Thy blood on me ;" if thou wilt confess 

thy sin, thou shalt find pardon. If, now, with all thy heart, 

thou wilt say, " I am vile ; wash me," thou shalt be washed 

now. If the Holy Spirit shall enable thee from thy heart to 

cry,— £ 

" Just as I am, without one plea 
But that Thy blood was shed for me, 
And that Thou bid'st me come to Thee, 
O, Lamb of God, I come ! "— 

thou shalt rise from reading this morning's portion with all 
thy sins pardoned ; and though thou didst wake this morning 
with every sin that man hath ever committed on thy head, 
thou shalt rest to-night accepted in the Beloved ; though once 
degraded with the rags of sin, thou shalt be adorned with a 
robe of righteousness, and appear white as the angels are. 
For " now," mark it, " now is the accepted time." If thou 
" believest on Him who justifieth the ungodly thou art saved." 
Oh ! may the Holy Spirit give thee saving faith in Him who 
receives the vilest. 




June 7. DAILY HEADINGS. 159 

"Te that love the Lord, hate evil." — Psalm xcvii. 10. 

gHOU hast good reason to "hate evil;" for only con- 
sider what harm it has already wrought thee. Oh, 
what a world of mischief sin has brought into thy 
heart ! Sin blindeth thee, so that thou couldst not see the 
beauty of the Saviour ; it made thee deaf, so that thou couldst 
not hear the Redeemer's tender invitations. Sin turned thy 
feet into the way of death, and poured poison into the very 
fountain of thy being ; it tainted thy heart, and made it 
" deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." Oh, 
what a creature thou wast when evil had done its utmost 
with thee, before divine grace interposed ! Thou wast an 
heir of wrath even as others ; thou didst " run with the 
multitude to do evil." Such were all of us ; but Paul reminds 
us, " but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are 
justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of 
our God." We have good reason, indeed, for hating evil 
when we look back and trace its deadly workings. Such mis- 
chief did evil do us, that our souls would have been lost had 
not omnipotent love interfered to redeem us. Even now it 
is an active enemy, ever watching to do us hurt, and to drag 
us to perdition. Therefore " hate evil," Christians, unless 
you desire trouble. If you would strew your path with thorns, 
and plant nettles in your death-pillow, then neglect to " hate 
evil ; " but if you would live a happy life, and die a peaceful 
death, then walk in all the ways of holiness, hating evil, even 
unto the end. If you truly love your Saviour, and would 
honor Him, then " hate evil." We know of no cure for the 
love of evil in a Christian like abundant intercourse with the 
Lord Jesus. Dwell much.with Hiin, and it is impossible for 
you to be at peace with sin. 

" Order my footsteps by Thy Word, 
And make my heart sincere ; 
Let sin have no dominion, Lord, 
But keep my conscience clear." 




160 DAILY HEADINGS. June 8. 

" There fell down many slain, because the tear was of God" 
1 Chron. v. 22. 

j^jjjARRIOR, fighting under the banner of the Lord Jesus, 
observe this verse with holy joy, for as it was in the 
days of old, so is it now ; if the war be of God, the 
victory is sure. The sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and 
the half tribe of Manasseh, could barely muster five and forty 
thousand fighting men ; and yet in their war with the Hagar- 
ites, they slew " men a hundred thousand," " for they cried 
to God in the battle, and He was entreated of them, because 
they put their trust in Him." The Lord saveth not by many 
nor by few; it is ours to go forth in Jehovah's name if 
we be but a handful of men, for the Lord of Hosts is with us 
for our Captain. They did not neglect buckler, and sword, 
and bow, neither did they place their trust in these weapons ; 
we must use all fitting means, but our confidence must rest 
in the Lord alone, for He is the sword and the shield of His 
people. The great reason of their extraordinary success lay 
in the fact that " the war was of God." Beloved, in fighting 
with sin without and within, with error doctrinal or practical, 
with spiritual wickedness in high places or low places, with 
devils and the devil's allies, you are waging Jehovah's war, 
and unless He himself can be worsted, you need not fear 
defeat. Quail not before superior numbers, shrink not from 
difficulties or impossibilities, flinch not at wounds or death, 
smite with the two-edged sword of the Spirit, atid the slain 
shall lie in heaps. The battle is the Lord's, and He will deliver 
His enemies into our hands. With steadfast foot, strong 
hand, dauntless heart, and flaming zeal, rush to the conflict, 
and the hosts of evil shall fly like chaff before the gale. 

" Stand up ! stand up for Jesus ! To Him that overcometh, 
The strife will not be long ; A crown of life shall be ; 

This day the noise of battle, He with the King of glory 
The next the victor's song : Shall reign eternally." 




June 9. DAILY READINGS. 161 

" The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad" 
Psalm cxxvi. 3. 

|OME Christians are sadly prone to look on the dark 
j?w side of everything, and to dwell more upon what they 
have gone through than upon what God has done for 
them. Ask for their impression of the Christian life, and they 
will describe their continual conflicts, their deep afflictions, 
their sad adversities, and the sinfulness of their hearts, yet 
with scarcely any allusion to the mercy and help which God has 
vouchsafed them. But a Christian whose soul is in a healthy 
state will come forward joyously, and say, " I will speak, not 
about myself, but to the honor of my God. He hath brought 
me up out of a horrible pit, and out of the miry clay, and set 
my feet upon a rock, and established my goings : and He hath 
put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God. The 
Lord hath done great things for me, whereof I am glad." 
Such an abstract of experience as this is the very best that 
any child of God can present. It is true that we endure trials, 
but it is just as true that we are delivered out of them. It is 
true that we have our corruptions, and mournfully do we know 
this, but it is quite as true that we have an all-sufficient Sa- 
viour, who overcomes these corruptions, and delivers us from 
their dominion. In looking back, it would be wrong to deny 
that we have been in the Slough of Despond, and have crept 
along the Valley of Humiliation ; but it would be equally 
wicked to forget that we have been through them safely and 
profitably; we have not remained in them, thanks to our Al- 
mighty Helper and Leader, who has brought us " out into a 
wealthy place." The deeper our troubles, the louder our 
thanks to God, who has led us through all, and preserved us 
until now. Our griefs cannot mar the melody of our praise ; 
we reckon them to be the bass part of our life's song, " He 
hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad." 
14* 



1G2 DAILY READINGS. Julie 10. 

" We live unto the Lord." — Romans xiv. 8. 

JRF God had willed it, each of us might have entered 
®{ heaven at the moment of conversion. It was not 
** absolutely necessary for our preparation for immor- 
tality that we should tarry here. It is possible for a man to 
be taken to heaven, and to be found meet to be a partaker 
of the inheritance of the saints in light, though he has but 
just believed in Jesus. It is true that our sanctification is a 
long and continued process, and we shall not be perfected 
till we lay aside our bodies and enter within the veil ; but nev- 
ertheless, had the Lord so willed it, He might have changed 
us from imperfection to perfection, and have taken us to 
heaven at once. Why then are we here ? Would God keep 
His children out of paradise a single moment longer than was 
necessary ? Why is the army of the living God still on the 
battle-field, when one charge might give them the victory ? 
Why are His children still wandering hither and thither 
through a maze, when a solitary word from His lips would 
bring them into the centre of their hopes in heaven ? The 
answer is — They are here that they may " live unto the Lord," 
and may bring others to know His love. We remain on earth 
as sowers to scatter good seed ; as ploughmen to break up the 
fallow ground ; as heralds publishing salvation. We are here 
as the " salt of the earth," to be a blessing to the world. 
We are here to glorify Christ in. our daily life. We are 
here as workers for Him, and as " workers together with 
Him." Let us see that our life answereth its end. Let us 
live earnest, useful, holy lives, to " the praise of the glory 
of His grace." Meanwhile we long to be with Him, and 
daily sing — 

" My heart is with Him on His throne, 
And ill can brook delay ; 
*" Each moment listening for the voice, 

« Rise up, and come away.' " 




June 11. DAILY HEADINGS. 163 

"We love Him because He first loved lis" — 1 John iv. 19. 

SPHERE is no light in the planet but that which pro- 
ceedeth from the sun ; and there is no true love to 
Jesus in the heart but that which cometh from the 
Lord Jesus Himself. From this overflowing fountain of the 
infinite love of God, all our love to God must spring. This 
must ever be a great and certain truth, that we love Him for 
no other reason than because He first loved us. Our love 
to Him is the fair offspring of His love to us. Cold admira- 
tion, when studying the works of God, any one may have ; 
but the warmth of love can only be kindled in the heart by 
God's Spirit. How great the wonder that such as we should 
ever have been brought to love Jesus at all ! How marvellous 
that when we had rebelled against Him, He should, by a 
display of such amazing love, seek to draw us back. No ! 
never should We have had a grain of love towards God unless 
it had been sown in us by the sweet seed of His love to us. 
Love, then, has for its parent the love of God shed abroad 
in the heart ; but after it is thus divinely born, it must be 
divinely nourished. Love is an exotic ; it is not a plant 
which will flourish naturally in human soil, it must be watered 
from above. Love to Jesus is a flower of a delicate nature ; 
and if it received no nourishment but that which could be 
drawn from the rock of our hearts, it would soon wither. 
As love comes from heaven, so it must feed on heavenly 
bread. It cannot exist in the wilderness unless it be fed by 
manna from on high. Love must feed on love. The very 
soul and life of our love to God is His love to us. 

" I love Thee, Lord, but with no love of mine, 
For I have none to give ; 
I love Thee, Lord, but all the love is Thine, 

For by Thy love I live. 
I am as nothing, and rejoice to be 
Emptied, and lost, and swallowed up in Thee." 



164 DAILY HEADINGS. June 12. 

"Thou art weighed in the balances and found wanting." 
Daniel v. 27. 

SrT is well frequently to weigh ourselves in the scale of 
God's Word. You will find it a holy exercise to read 
some psalm of David, and, as you meditate upon 
each verse, to ask yourself, " Can I say this ? Have I felt 
as David felt ? Has my heart ever been broken on account of 
sin, as his was when he penned his penitential psalms ? Has 
my soul been full of true confidence in the hour of difficulty, 
as his was when he sang of God's mercies in the cave of 
Adullam, or in the holds of Engedi ? Do I take the cup 
of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord ? " Then 
turn to the life of Christ, and, as you read, ask yourselves 
how far you are conformed to His likeness. Endeavor to 
discover whether you have the meekness, the humility, the 
lovely spirit which He constantly inculcated and displayed. 
Take, then, the epistles, and see whether you can go with 
the apostle in what he said of his experience. Have you 
ever cried out as he did — '*' wretched man that I am! 
who shall deliver me from the body of this death ? " Have 
you ever felt his self-abasement ? Have you seemed to 
yourself the chief of sinners, and less than the least of all 
saints ? Have you known anything of his devotion ? Could 
you join with him and say, " For me to live is Christ, and to 
die is gain " ? If we thus read God's Word as a test of our 
spiritual condition, we shall have good reason to stop many 
a time and say, " Lord, I feel I have never yet been here ; 
bring me here ! give me true penitence, such as this I read 
of. Give me real faith ; give me warmer zeal ; inflame me 
with more fervent love ; grant me the grace of meekness ; 
make me more like Jesus. Let me no longer be 'found 
wanting,' when weighed in the balances of the sanctuary, lest 
J be found wanting in the scales of judgment." " Judge 
yourselves that ye be not judged." 



Jlllie 13. DAILY READINGS. 165 

" Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." — Rev. xxii.17. 



m 



plSUS says, " Take freely." He wants no payment 
or preparation. He seeks no recommendation from 
our virtuous emotions. If you have no good feelings, 
if you be but willing, you are invited ; therefore come ! You 
have no belief and no repentance, — come to Him, and He 
will give them to you. Come just as you are, and take 
" freely," without money and without price. He gives Him- 
self to needy ones. The drinking fountains at the corners 
of our streets are valuable institutions ; and we can hardly 
imagine any one so foolish as to feel for his purse when he 
stands before one of them, and to cry, " I cannot drink be- 
cause I have not five pounds in my pocket." However poor 
the man is, there is the fountain, and just as he is he may 
drink of it. Thirsty passengers, as they go by, whether 
they are dressed in fustian or in broadcloth, do not look for 
any warrant for drinking ; its being there is their warrant 
for taking its water freely. The liberality of some good 
friends has put the refreshing crystal there, and we take it, 
and ask no questions. Perhaps the only persons who need 
go thirsty through the street where there is a drinking foun- 
tain are the fine ladies and gentlemen who are in their car- 
riages. They are very thirsty, but cannot think of being so 
vulgar as to get out to drink. It would demean them, they 
think, to drink at a common drinking fountain : so they ride 
by with parched lips. Oh, how many there are who are rich 
in their own good works, and cannot therefore come to 
Christ! " I will not be saved," they say, " in the same way 
as the harlot or the swearer." What ! go to heaven in the 
same way as a chimneysweep ! Is there no pathway to 
glory but the path which led the thief there ? I will not be 
saved that way. Such proud boasters must remain without 
the living water ; but, " Whosoever will, let him TAKE 
THE WATER OF LIFE FREELY." 




166 DAILY HEADINGS. June 14. 

" Delight thyself also in the Lord." — Psalm xxxvii. 4. 

(HE teaching of these words must seem very surprising 
to those who are strangers to vital godliness, but to 
the sincere believer it is only the inculcation of a 
recognized truth. The life of the believer is here described 
as a delight in God, and we are thus certified of the great 
fact that true religion overflows with happiness and joy. 
Ungodly persons and mere professors never look upon re- 
ligion as a joyful thing; to them it is service, duty, or neces- 
sity, but never pleasure or delight. If they attend to religion 
at all, it is either that they may gain thereby, or else because 
they dare not do otherwise. The thought of delight in re- 
ligion is so strange to most men, that no two words in their 
language stand farther apart than "holiness" and " delight." 
But believers who know Christ understand that delight and 
faith are so blessedly united that the gates of hell cannot 
prevail to separate them. They who love God with all their 
hearts find that His ways are ways of pleasantness, and all 
His paths are peace. Such joys, such brimful delights, such 
overflowing blessedness, do the saints discover in their Lord, 
that, so far from serving Him from custom, they would fol- 
low Him though all the world cast out His name as evil. 
We fear not God because of any compulsion ; our faith is no 
fetter, our profession is no bondage ; we are not dragged to 
holiness, nor driven to duty. No, our piety is our pleasure, 
our hope is our happiness, our duty is our delight. 

Delight and true religion are as allied as root and flower ; 
as indivisible as truth and certainty ; they are, in fact, two 
precious jewels glittering side by side in a setting of gold. 

" "lis when we taste Thy love, 
Our joys divinely grow, 
Unspeakable like those above, 
And heaven begins below." 



JuilC 15. DAILY HEADINGS. 167 

" And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that 
hear will laugh with me." — Genesis xxi. 6. 



§' 



,T was far above the power of nature, and even con- 
^j trary to its laws, that the aged Sarah should be hon- 
^ ored with a son ; and even so it is beyond all ordinary 
rules that I, a poor, helpless, undone sinner, should find 
grace to bear about in my soul the indwelling Spirit of the 
Lord Jesus. I, who once despaired,' as well I might, — for 
my nature was as dry, and withered, and barren, and ac- 
cursed as a howling wilderness, — even I have been made to 
bring forth fruit unto holiness. Well may my mouth be 
filled with joyous laughter, because of the singular, surpris- 
ing grace which I have received of the Lord, for I have 
found Jesus, the promised seed, and He is mine forever. 
This day will I lift up psalms of triumph unto the Lord, who 
has remembered my low estate, for " my heart rejoiceth in 
the Lord ; mine horn is exalted in the Lord ; my mouth is 
enlarged over mine enemies, because I rejoice in Thy salva- 
tion." I would have all those that hear of my great deliver- 
ance from hell, and my most blessed visitation from on high, 
laugh for joy with me. I would surprise my family with my 
abundant peace ; I would delight my friends with my ever- 
increasing happiness ; I would edify the Church with my 
grateful confessions ; and even impress the world with the 
cheerfulness of my daily conversation. Bunyan tells us that 
Mercy laughed in her sleep, and no wonder when she dreamed 
of Jesus ; my joy shall not stop short of hers while my Be- 
loved is the theme of my daily thoughts. The Lord Jesus 
is a deep sea of joy ; my soul shall dive therein, shall be 
swallowed up in the delights of His society. Sarah looked 
on her Isaac, and laughed with excess of rapture, and all her 
friends laughed with her; and thou, my soul, look on thy 
Jesus, and bid heaven and earth unite in thy joy unspeakable. 




168 daily headings. June 16. 

"And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish" 
John x.,28. 

^HE Christian should never think or speak lightly of 
unbelief. For a child of God to mistrust His love, 
His truth, His faithfulness, must be greatly displeas- 
ing to Him. How can we ever grieve Him by doubting His 
upholding grace ? Christian ! it is contrary to every promise 
of God's precious Word that thou shouldst ever be forgotten 
or left to perish. If it could be so, how could He be true 
who has said, " Can a woman forget her sucking child, that 
she should not have compassion on the son of her womb ? 
Yea, they may forget, yet will I never forget thee." What 
werq the value of that promise — " The mountains shall de- 
part, and the hills be removed ; but My kindness shall not 
depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of My peace be 
removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee " ? Where 
were the truth of Christ's words — "I give unto My sheep 
eternal life ; and they shall never perish, neither shall any 
man pluck them out of My hand. My Father which gave 
them Me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them 
out of My Father's hand " ? Where were the doctrines of 
grace ? They would be all disproved if one child of God 
should perish. Where were the veracity of God, His honor, 
His power, His grace, His covenant, His oath, if any of those 
for whom Christ has died, and who have put their trust in 
Him, should nevertheless be cast away ? Banish those un- 
believing fears which so dishonor God. Arise, shake thy- 
self from the dust, and put on thy beautiful garments. Re- 
member it is sinful to doubt His Word wherein He has 
promised thee that thou shalt never perish. Let the eternal 
life within thee express itself in confident rejoicing. 

" The gospel bears my spirit up : 
A faithful and unchanging God 
Lays the foundation for my hope 
In oaths, and promises, and blood." 



June 17. DAILY HEADINGS. 169 

"Help, Lord." — Psalm xii. 1. 




r^HE prayer itself is remarkable, for it is short, but sea- 
sonable, sententious, and suggestive. David mourned 
the fewness of faithful men, and therefore lifted up 
his heart in supplication ; when the creature failed, he flew 
to the Creator. He evidently felt his own weakness, or he 
would not have cried for help ; but at the same time he in- 
tended honestly to exert himself for the cause of truth, for 
the word " help " is inapplicable where we ourselves do noth- 
ing. There is much of directness, clearness of perception, and 
distinctness of utterance in this petition of two words ; much 
more, indeed, than in the lpng rambling outpourings of cer- 
tain professors. The Psalmist runs straightforward to his 
God, with a well-considered prayer ; he knows what he is 
seeking, and where to seek it. Lord, teach us to pray in 
the same blessed manner. 

The occasions for the use of this prayer are frequent. In 
providential afflictions how suitable it is for tried believers 
who find all helpers failing them. Students, in doctrinal 
difficulties, may often obtain aid by lifting up this cry of 
" Help, Lord," to the Holy Spirit, the great Teacher. Spirit- 
ual warriors in inward conflicts may send to the throne for 
reinforcements, and this will be a model for their request. 
Workers in heavenly labor may thus obtain grace in time of 
need. Seeking sinners in doubts and alarms may offer up 
the same weighty supplications ; in fact, in all cases, times, 
and places, this will serve the turn of needy souls. "Help, 
Lord," will suit us living and dying, suffering or laboring, 
rejoicing or sorrowing. In Him our help is found ; let us 
not be slack to cry to Him. 

The answer to the 'prayer is certain, if it be sincerely of- 
fered through Jesus. The Lord's character assures us that 
He will not leave His people ; His relationship as Father and 
Husband guarantees us His aid ; His gift of Jesus is a pledge 
of every good thing ; and His sure promise stands, Fear not, 

I WILL HELP THEE. 

15 



170 DAILY READINGS. Julie 18. 

" Thy Redeemer" — Isaiah liv. 5. 

jafESUS, the Redeemer, is altogether ours, and ours for- 
j| ever. All the offices of Christ are held on our behalf. 
He is king for us, priest for us, and prophet for us. 
Whenever we read a new title of the Redeemer, let us ap- 
propriate Him as ours under that name as much as under 
any other. The shepherd's staff, the father's rod, the cap- 
tain's sword, the priest's mitre, the prince's sceptre, the 
prophet's mantle, all are ours. Jesus hath no dignity which 
he will not employ for our exaltation, and no prerogative 
which he will not exercise for our defence. His fulness of 
Godhead is our unfailing, inexhaustible treasure-house. 

His manhood also, which He took upon Him for us, is ours 
in all its perfection. To us our gracious Lord communicates 
the spotless virtue of a stainless character ; to us He gives 
the meritorious efficacy of a devoted life ; on us He bestows 
the reward procured by obedient submission and incessant 
service. He makes the unsullied garment of His life our 
covering beauty ; the glittering virtues of His character our 
ornaments and jewels; and the superhuman meekness of 
His death our boast and glory. He bequeaths us His 
manger, from which to learn how God came down to man ; 
and His Cross to teach us how man may go up to God. All 
His thoughts, emotions, actions, utterances, miracles, and 
intercessions, were for us. He trod the road of sorrow on 
our behalf, and hath made over to us as His heavenly legacy 
the full results of all the labors of His life. He is now as much 
ours as heretofore ; and He blushes not to acknowledge 
Himself " our Lord Jesus Christ," though He is the blessed 
and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords. 
Christ everywhere and every way is our Christ, forever and 
ever most richly to enjoy. my soul, by the power of the 
Holy Spirit call Him this morning, " thy Redeemer." 



I 



June 19. DAILY READINGS. 171 

"And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost" — Acts ii. 4. 

E^ICH were the blessings of this day if all of us were 
^ filled with the Holy Grhost. The consequences of 
^ this sacred filling of the soul it would be impossible 
to over-estimate. Life, comfort, light, purity, power, peace, 
and many other precious blessings are inseparable from the 
Spirit's benign presence. As sacred oil, He anoints the 
head of the believer, sets him apart to the priesthood of 
saints, and gives him grace to execute his office aright. As 
the only truly purifying water, He cleanses us from the power 
of sin, and sanctifies us unto holiness, working in us to will 
and to do of the Lord's good pleasure. As the light, He 
manifested to us at first our lost estate, and now He reveals 
the Lord Jesus to us and in us, and guides us in the way of 
righteousness. Enlightened by His pure celestial ray, we 
are no more darkness, but light in the Lord. As fire, he 
both purges us from dross, and sets our consecrated nature 
on a blaze. He is the sacrificial flame by which we are enabled 
to offer our whore souls as a living sacrifice unto G-od. As 
heavenly dew, He removes our barrenness and fertilizes our 
lives. that He would drop from above upon us at this 
early hour. Such morning dew would be a sweet commence- 
ment for the day. As the dove, with wings of peaceful love, 
He broods over His Church and over the souls of believers, 
and as a Comforter, He dispels the cares and doubts which 
mar the peace of His beloved. He descends upon the chosen 
as upon the Lord in Jordan, and bears witness to their son- 
ship by working in them a filial spirit, by which they cry, Abba, 
Father. As the wind, He brings the breath of life to men ; 
blowing where He listeth He performs the quickening opera- 
tions by which the spiritual creation is animated and sus- 
tained. Would to Grod that we might feel His presence 
this day and every day. 



172 daily readings. June 20. 

" For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel 
among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall 
not the least grain fall upon the earth." — Amos ix. 9. 

^^^^VERY sifting comes by divine command and permis- 
W^m s ^ on - Satan must ask leave before he can lay a finger 
®^^ upon Job. Nay, more, in some sense our siftings are 
directly the work of Heaven, for the text says, " I will sift the 
house of Israel." Satan, like a drudge, may hold the sieve, 
hoping to destroy the corn ; but the overruling hand of the 
Master is accomplishing the purity of the grain by the very 
process which the enemy intended to be destructive. Pre- 
cious, but much sifted corn of the Lord's floor, be comforted 
by the blessed fact that the Lord directeth both flail and 
sieve to His own glory, and to thine eternal profit. 

The Lord Jesus will surely use the fan which is in His 
hand, and will divide the precious from the vile. All are not 
Israel that are of Israel ; the heap on the barn floor is not 
clean provender, and hence the winnowing process must be 
performed. In the sieve true weight alone has power. 
Husks and chaff, being devoid of substance, must fly before 
the wind, and only solid corn will remain. 

Observe the complete safety of the Lord's wheat ; even the 
least grain has a promise of preservation. God Himself sifts, 
and therefore it is stern and terrible work ; He sifts them 
in all places, " among all nations ; " He sifts them in the 
most effectual manner, " like as corn is sifted in a sieve ; " 
and yet for all this, not the smallest, lightest, or most shriv- 
elled grain is permitted to fall to the ground. Every indi- 
vidual believer is precious in the sight of the Lord ; a shep- 
herd would not lose one sheep, nor a jeweller one diamond, 
nor a mother one child, nor a man one limb of his body, nor 
will the Lord lose one of his redeemed people. However 
little we may be, if we are the Lord's, we may rejoice that 
we are preserved in Christ Jesus. 




June 21. DAILY READINGS. 173 

" Thou art fairer than the children of men." — Psalm xlv. 2. 

**gHE entire person of Jesus is but as one gem, and His 
life is all along but one impression of the seal. He 
is altogether complete ; not only in His several parts, 
but as a gracious, all-glorious whole. His character is not a 
mass of fair colors mixed confusedly, nor a heap of precious 
stones laid carelessly one upon another ; He is a picture of 
beauty and a breastplate of glory. In Him all the " things 
of good repute" are in their proper places, and assist in 
adorning each other. Not one feature in His glorious per- 
son attracts attention at the expense of others ; but He is 
perfectly and altogether lovely. Oh, Jesus ! Thy power, 
Thy grace, Thy justice, Thy tenderness, Thy truth, Thy ma- 
jesty, and Thine immutability, make up such a man, or rather 
such a Grod-man, as neither heaven nor earth hath seen else- 
where. Thy infancy, Thy eternity, Thy sufferings, Thy tri- 
umphs, Thy death, and Thine immortality, are all woven in 
one gorgeous tapestry, without seam or rent. Thou art 
music without discord ; Thou art many, and yet not divided ; 
Thou art all things, and yet not diverse. As all the colors 
blend into one resplendent rainbow, so all the glories of 
heaven and earth meet in Thee, and unite so wondrously, that 
there is none like Thee in all things ; nay, if all the virtues of 
the most excellent were bound in one bundle, they could not 
rival Thee, Thou mirror of all perfection. Thou hast been 
anointed with the holy oil of myrrh and cassia, which Thy God 
hath reserved for Thee alone ; and as for Thy fragrance, it is 
as the holy perfume, the like of which none other can ever 
mingle, even with the art of the apothecary ; each spice is 
fragrant, but the compound is divine. 

" sacred symmetry ! O rare connection 
Of many perfects, to make one perfection ! 
heavenly music, where all parts do meet 
In one sweet strain, to make one perfect sweet ! " 
15* 



174 daily readings. June 22. 

" He shall build the temple of the Lord ; and He shall bear the 
glory." — Zechariah vi. 13. 

^plgHRIST Himself is the builder of His spiritual temple, 
and He has built it on the mountains of His un- 
changeable affection, His omnipotent grace, and His 
infallible truthfulness. But as it was in Solomon's temple, 
so in this ; the materials need making ready. There are the 
" cedars of Lebanon," but they are not framed for the build- 
ing ; they are not cut down, and shaped, and made into those 
planks of cedar, whose odoriferous beauty shall make glad 
the courts of the Lord's house in Paradise. There are also 
the rough stones still in the quarry; they must be hewn thence, 
and squared. All this is Christ's own work. Each individ- 
ual believer is being prepared, and polished, and made ready 
for his place in the temple ; but Christ's own hand performs 
the preparation-work. Afflictions cannot sanctify, excepting 
as they are used by Him to this end. Our prayers and ef- 
forts cannot make us ready for heaven, apart from the hand 
of Jesus, who fashioneth our hearts aright. As in the build- 
ing of Solomon's temple " there was neither hammer, nor 
axe, nor any tool of iron, heard in the house," because all 
was brought perfectly ready for the exact spot it was to 
occupy, so is it with the temple which Jesus builds — the 
making ready is all done on earth. When we reach heaven, 
there will be no sanctifying us there, no squaring us with 
affliction, no planing us with suffering. No, we must be 
made meet here — all that Christ will do beforehand ; and 
when He has done it, we shall be ferried by a loving hand 
across the stream of death, and brought to the heavenly 
Jerusalem, to abide as eternal pillars in the temple of our 

Lord. 

" Beneath His eye and care, 
The edifice shall rise, 
Majestic, strong, and fair, 
And shine above the skies." 




June 23. daily readings. 175 

" Ephraim is a cake not turned." — Hosea vii. 8. 

^ CAKE not turned is uncooked on one side ; and so 
Ephraim was, in many respects, untouched by divine 
grace ; though there was some partial obedience, 
there was very much rebellion left. My soul, I charge thee, 
see whether this be thy case. Art thou thorough in the things 
of Grod ? Has grace gone through the very centre of thy 
being, so as to be felt in its divine operations in all thy pow- 
ers, thy actions, thy words, and thy thoughts ? To be sanc- 
tified, spirit, soul, and body, should be thine aim and prayer ; 
and although sanctification may not be perfect in thee any- 
where in degree, yet it must be universal in its action ; there 
must not be the appearance of holiness in one place and reign- 
ing sin in another, else thou, too, wilt be a cake not turned. 

A cake not turned is soon burned on the side nearest the fire ; 
and although no man can have too much religion, there are 
some who seem burned black with bigoted zeal for that part of 
truth which they have received, or are charred to a cinder 
with a vain-glorious Pharisaic ostentation of those religious 
performances which suit their humor. The assumed appear- 
ance of superior sanctity frequently accompanies a total ab- 
sence of all vital godliness. The saint in public is a devil in 
private. He deals in flour by day and in soot by night The 
cake which is burned on one side, is dough on the other. 

If it be so with me, Lord, turn me ! Turn my unsancti- 
fied nature to the fire of Thy love, and let it feel the sacred 
glow ; and let my burned side Cool a little, while I learn my 
own weakness and want of heat when I am removed from Thy 
heavenly flame. Let me not be found a double-minded man, 
but one entirely under the powerful influence of reigning 
grace ; for well I know if I am left like a cake unturned, and 
am not on both sides the subject of Thy grace, I must be 
consumed forever amid everlasting burnings. 



176 daily headings. June 24. 

" A certain woman of the company lifted up Tier voice, and said 
unto Him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps 
which Thou hast sucked. But He said, Tea rather, blessed 
are they that hear the word of God, and keep it." 
Luke xi. 27, 28. 

#j}T is fondly imagined by some that it must have in- 
^j volved very special privileges to have been the moth- 
** er of our Lord, because they suppose that she had the 
benefit of looking into His very heart in a way in which we 
cannot hope to do. There may be an appearance of plausi- 
bility in the supposition, but not much. We do not know 
that Mary knew more than others ; what she did know she 
did well to lay up in her heart ; but she does not appear from 
anything we read in the Evangelists to have been a better- 
instructed believer than any other of Christ's disciples. All 
that she knew, we also may discover. Do you wonder that 
we should say so ? Here is a text to prove it : " The secret 
of the Lord is with them that fear Him, and He will show 
them His covenant." Remember the Master's words — 
" Henceforth I call you not servants ; for the servant know- 
eth not what His Lord doeth : but I have called you friends ; 
for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made 
known unto you." So blessedly does this Divine E-evealer 
of secrets tell us His heart, that He keepeth back nothing 
which is profitable to us. His own assurance is, " If it were 
not so I would have told you." Doth He not this day man- 
ifest Himself unto us as He doth not unto the world ? It is 
even so ; and therefore we will not ignorantly cry out, 
" Blessed is the womb that bare Thee," but we will intelli- 
gently bless Grod that, having heard the Word and kept it, 
we have first of all as true a communion with the Saviour as 
the Virgin had ; and in the second place, as true an ac- 
quaintance with the secrets of His heart as she can be sup- 
posed to have obtained. Happy soul to be thus privileged ! 




June 25. daily readings. 177 

tl Get thee up into the high mountain." — Isaiah xl. 9. 

JUR knowledge of Christ is somewhat like climbing 
one of our Welsh mountains. When you are at the 
WAm base you see but little : the mountain itself appears 
to be but one half as high as it really is. Confined in a little 
valley, you discover scarcely anything but the rippling brooks 
as they descend into the stream at the foot of the mountain. 
Climb the first rising knoll, and the valley lengthens and 
widens beneath your feet. Go higher, and you see the coun- 
try for four or five miles round, and you are delighted with 
the widening prospect. Mount still, and the scene enlarges ; 
till at last, when you are on the summit, and look east, west, 
north, and south, you see almost all England lying before 
you. Yonder is a forest in some distant county, perhaps 
two hundred miles away, and here the sea, and there a shin- 
ing river and the smoking chimneys of a manufacturing town, 
or the masts of the ships in a busy port. All these things 
please and delight you, and you say, " I could not have ima- 
gined that so much could be seen at this elevation." Now, 
the Christian life is of the same order. When we first believe 
in Christ we see but little of Him. The higher we climb the 
more we discover of His beauties. But who has ever gained 
the summit ? Who has known all the heights and depths 
of the love of Christ which passes knowledge ? Paul, when 
grown old, sitting gray-haired, shivering in a dungeon in 
Rome, could say with greater emphasis than we can, " I 
know whom I have believed," for each experience had been 
like the climbing of a hill, each trial had been like ascending 
another summit, and his death seemed like gaining the top 
of the mountain, from which he could see the whole of the 
faithfulness and the love of Him to whom he had committed 
his soul. Get thee up, dear friend, into the high moun- 
tain. 




178 daily readings. - June 26. 

"Art thou become like unto ws? " — Isaiah xiv. 10. 

^HAT must be the apostate professor's doom when his 
[j naked soul appears before Grod ? How will he bear 
that voice, "Depart, ye cursed; thou hast rejected 
Me, and I reject thee ; thou hast played the harlot, and de- 
parted from Me : I also have banished thee forever from My 
presence, and will not have mercy upon thee " ? What will 
be this wretch's shame at the last great day, when, before as- 
sembled multitudes, the apostate shall be unmasked ? See 
the profane, and sinners who never professed religion, lifting 
themselves up from their beds of fire to point at him. 
" There he is," says one ; " will he preach the gospel in 
hell ?" " There he is," says another ; " he rebuked mc for 
cursing, and was a hypocrite himself ! " " Aha ! " says 
another; "here comes a psalm-singing Methodist — one 
who was always at his meeting ; he is the man who boasted 
of his being sure of everlasting life ; and here he is ! " No 
greater eagerness will ever be seen among Satanic tormentors 
than in that day when devils drag the hypocrite's soul down 
to perdition. Bunyan pictures this with massive but awful 
grandeur of poetry when he speaks of the back-way to hell. 
Seven devils bound the wretch with nine cords, and dragged 
him from the road to heaven, in which he had professed to 
walk, and thrust him through the back-door into hell. Mind 
that back-way *to hell, professors! "Examine yourselves 
whether ye be in the faith." Look well to your state ; see 
whether you be in Christ or not. It is the easiest thing in 
the world to give a lenient verdict when one's self is to be 
tried ; but 0, be just and true here. Be just to all, but 
be rigorous to yourself. Remember, if it be not a rock on 
which you build, when the house shall fall, great will be the 
fall of it. 0, may the Lord give you sincerity, constancy, 
and firmness ; and in no day, however evil, may you be led 
to turn aside. 




June 27. daily readings. 179 

" Only ye shall not go very far away." — Ex. viii. 28. 

'?IHIS is a crafty word from the lip of the arch-tyrant 
Pharaoh. If the poor bondaged Israelites must needs 
go out of Egypt, then he bargains with them that it 
shall not be very far away ; not too far, for them to escape 
the terror of his arms and the observation of his spies. 
After the same fashion, the world loves not the nonconformity 
of nonconformity, or the dissidence of dissent ; it would have 
us be more charitable, and not carry matters with too severe 
a hand. Death to the world, and burial with Christ, are ex- 
periences which carnal minds treat with ridicule, and hence 
the ordinance which sets them forth is almost universally 
neglected, and even contemned. Worldly wisdom recom- 
mends the path of compromise, and talks of " moderation." 
According to this carnal policy, purity is admitted to be very 
desirable, but we are warned against being too precise ; truth 
is of course to be followed, but error is not to be severely 
denounced. "Yes," says the world, "be spiritually minded 
by all means, but do not deny yourself a little gay society, 
an occasional ball, and a Christmas visit to the theatre. 
What's the good of crying down a thing when it is so fash- 
ionable, and everybody does it ? " Multitudes of professors 
yield to this cunning advice to their own eternal ruin. If 
we would follow the Lord wholly, we must go right away 
into the wilderness of separation, and leave the Egypt of 
the carnal world behind us. We must leave its maxims, 
pleasures, and its religion too, and go far away to the place 
where the Lord calls His sanctified ones. When the town 
is on fire, our house cannot be too far from the flames. 
When the plague is abroad, a man cannot be too far from 
its haunts. The farther from a viper the better, and the 
farther from worldly conformity the better. To all true be- 
lievers, let the trumpet-call be sounded, " Come ye out from 
among them ; be ye separate." 




180 daily readings. June 28. 

• — — — ' w — ' 

"Looking unto Jesus." — Heb. xii. 2. 

;T is ever the Holy Spirit's work to turn our eyes away 
from self to Jesus ; but Satan's work is just the op- 
posite of this, for he is constantly trying to make us 
regard ourselves instead of Christ. He insinuates, " Your 
sins are too great for pardon ; you have no faith ; you do 
not repent enough ; you will never be able to continue to 
the end ; you have not the joy of His children ; you have 
such a wavering hold of Jesus." All these are thoughts 
about self, and we shall never find comfort or assurance by 
looking within. But the Holy Spirit turns our eyes entirely 
away from self : He tells us that we are nothing, but that 
" Christ is all in all." Remember, therefore, it is not thy 
hold of Christ that saves thee — it is Christ ; it is not thy joy 
in Christ that saves thee — it is Christ ; it is not even faith 
in Christ, though that be the instrument — it is Christ's 
blood and merits ; therefore, look not so much to thy hand 
with which thou art grasping Christ, as to Christ ; look not 
to thy hope, but to Jesus, the source of thy hope ; look 
not to thy faith, but to Jesus, the author and finisher of thy 
faith. We shall never find happiness by looking at our 
prayers, our doings, or our feelings ; it is what Jesus is, not 
what we are, that gives rest to the soul. If we would at 
once overcome Satan and have peace with God, it must be 
by " looking unto Jesus." Keep thine eye simply on Him ; 
let His death, His sufferings, His merits, His glories, His 
intercession, be fresh upon thy mind ; when thou wakest in 
the morning look to Him ; when thou liest down at night 
look to Him. Oh ! let not thy hopes or fears come between 
thee and Jesus ; follow hard after Him, and He will never 
fail thee. 

" My hope is built on nothing less 
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness : 
1 dare not trust the sweetest frame, 
But wholly lean on Jesus' name." 



June 29. daily headings. 181 

" Them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him" 
1 Thess. iv. 14. 

|M|ET us not imagine that the soul sleeps in insensibility. 

I )$V " To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise," is the 
whisper of Christ to every dying saint. They "sleep 
in Jesus," but their souls are before the throne of (rod, 
praising Him day and night in His temple, singing hallelu- 
jahs to Him who washed them from their sins in His blood. 
The body sleeps in its lonely bed of earth, beneath the cover- 
let of grass. But what is this sleep ? The idea connected 
with sleep is " rest" and that is the thought which the Spirit 
of God would convey to us. Sleep makes each night a Sab- 
bath for the day. Sleep shuts fast the door of the soul, and 
bids all intruders tarry for a while, that the life within may 
enter its summer garden of ease. The toil-worn believer 
quietly sleeps, as does the weary child when it slumbers on 
its mother's breast. Oh ! happy they who die in the Lord ; 
they rest from their labors, and their works do follow them. 
Their quiet repose shall never be broken until God shall 
rouse them to give them their full reward. Guarded by 
angel watchers, curtained by eternal mysteries, they sleep 
on, the heritors of glory, till the fulness of time shall bring 
the fulness of redemption. What an awaking shall be theirs ! 
They were laid in their last resting-place, weary and worn, 
but such they shall not rise. They went to their rest with 
the furrowed brow, and the wasted features, but they wake 
up in beauty and glory. The shrivelled seed, so destitute 
of form and comeliness, rises from the dust a beauteous 
flower. The winter of the grave gives way to the spring of 
redemption and the summer of glory. Blessed is death, 
since it, through the divine power, disrobes us of this work- 
day garment, to clothe us with the wedding garment of in- 
corruption. Blessed are those who " sleep in Jesus." 
16 



182 daily readings. June 30. 

* And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them" 
John xvii. 22. 

S&EHOLD the superlative liberality of the Lord Jesus, 
\l for He hath given us His all. Although a tithe of His 
possessions would have made a universe of angels 
rich beyond all thought, yet was He not content until He had 
given us all that He had. It would have been surprising grace 
if He had allowed us to eat the crumbs of His bounty be- 
neath the table of His mercy ; but He will do nothing by 
halves ; He makes us sit with Him and share the feast. Had 
He given us some small pension from His royal coffers, we 
should have had cause to love Him eternally ; but no, He 
will have His bride as rich as Himself, and He will not 
have a glory or a grace in which she shall not share. He 
has not been content with less than making us joint-heirs 
with Himself, so that we might have equal possessions. 
He has emptied all His estate into the coffers of the 
Church, and hath all things common with His redeemed. 
There is not one room in His house the key of which He 
will withhold from His people. He gives them full liberty 
to take all that He hath to be their own ; He loves them to 
make free with His treasure, and appropriate as much as 
they can possibly carry. The boundless fulness of His all- 
sufficiency is as free to the believer as the air he breathes. 
Christ hath put the flagon of His love and grace to the be- 
liever's lip, and bidden him drink on forever ; for could he 
drain it, he is welcome to do so, and as he cannot exhaust it, 
he is bidden to drink abundantly, for it is all his own. What 
truer proof of fellowship can heaven or earth afford ? 

"When I stand before the throne, 
Dressed in beauty not my own ; 
When I see Thee as Thou art, 
Love Thee with unsinning heart ; 
Then, Lord, shall I fully know — 
Not till then — how much I owe." 




July 1. DAILY READINGS. 183 

" In summer and in winter shall it be." — Zech. xiv. 8. 

gEE streams of living water which flow from Jerusa- 
lem are not dried up by the parching heats of sultry 
midsummer, any more than they were frozen by the 
cold winds of blustering winter. Rejoice, my soul, that 
thou art spared to testify of the faithfulness of the Lord. The 
seasons change and thou changest, but thy Lord abides ever- 
more the same, and the streams of His love are as deep, as 
broad, and as full as ever. The heats of business cares and 
scorching trials make me need the cooling influences of the 
river of his grace ; I may go at once and drink to the full 
from the inexhaustible fountain, for in summer and in winter 
it pours forth its flood. The upper springs are never scanty, 
and blessed be the name of the Lord, the nether springs 
cannot fail either. Elijah found Cherith dry up, but Jeho- 
vah was still the same God of providence. Job said his 
brethren were like deceitful brooks ; but he found his God 
an overflowing river of consolation. The Nile is the great 
confidence of Egypt, but its floods are variable ; our Lord is 
evermore the same. By turning the course of the Euphrates, 
Cyrus took the city of Babylon ; but no power, human or 
infernal, can divert the current of divine grace. The tracks 
of ancient rivers have been found all dry and desolate ; but 
the streams which take their rise on the mountains of divine 
sovereignty and infinite love shall ever be full to the brim. 
Generations melt away, but the course of grace is unaltered. 
The river of God may sing with greater truth than the brook 
in the poem — 

"Men may come, and men may go, 
But I go on forever." 

How happy art thou, my soul, to be led beside such still 
waters ! Never wander to other streams, lest thou hear the 
Lord's rebuke, " What hast thou to do in the way of Egypt 
to drink of the muddy river ? " 



184 daily headings. July 2. 

" Our heart shall rejoice in Him." — Psalm xxxiii. 21. 

M^j^6LESSED is the fact that Christians can rejoice, even 
mf- ^k * n *^ e deepest distress ; although trouble may sur- 
y^QjUrG. roun( j them, they still sing ; and, like many birds, 
they sing best in their cages. The waves may roll over 
them, but their souls soon rise to the surface, and see the 
light of Glod's countenance ; they have a buoyancy about 
them which keeps their head always above the water, and 
helps them to sing amid the tempest, " Grod is with me still." 
To whom shall the glory be given ? Oh ! to Jesus — it is all 
by Jesus. Trouble does not necessarily bring consolation 
with it to the believer, but the presence of the Son of God 
in the fiery furnace with him, fills his heart with joy. He is 
sick and suffering, but Jesus visits him and makes his bed 
for him. He is dying, and the cold, chilly waters of Jordan 
are gathering about him up to the neck, but Jesus puts His 
arms around him, and cries, " Fear not, beloved ; to die is 
to be blessed ; the waters of death have their fountain-head 
in heaven ; they are not bitter, they are sweet as nectar, for 
they flow from the throne of Grod." As the departing saint 
wades through the stream, and the billows gather around 
him, and heart and flesh fail him, the same voice sounds in 
his ears, " Fear not ; I am with thee : be not dismayed ; I 
am thy God." As he nears the borders of the infinite un- 
known, and is almost affrighted to enter the realm of shades, 
Jesus says, " Fear not; it is your Father's good pleasure to 
give you the kingdom." Thus strengthened and consoled, 
the believer is not afraid to die ; nay, he is even willing to 
depart, for since he has seen Jesus as the morning star, he 
longs to gaze upon Him as the sun in his strength. Truly, 
the presence of Jesus is all the heaven we desire. He is at 

once 

" The glory of our brightest days ; 
The comfort of our nights." 




July 3. DAILY HEADINGS . 185 

" The ill-favored and lean-fleshed kine did eat up the seven well- 
favored and fat kine." — Genesis xli. 4. 

^jgHARAOH'S dream has too often been my waking 
experience. My days of sloth have ruinously de- 
stroyed all that I had achieved in times of zealous 
industry ; my seasons of coldness have frozen all the genial 
glow of my periods of fervency and enthusiasm, and my fits 
of worldliness have thrown me back from my advances in the 
divine life. I had need to beware of lean prayers, lean 
praises, lean duties, and lean experiences, for these will eat 
up the fat of my comfort and peace. If I neglect prayer for 
never so short a time, I lose all the spirituality to which I 
had attained ; if I draw no fresh supplies from heaven, the 
old corn in my granary is soon consumed by the famine which 
rages in my soul. When the caterpillars of indifference, the 
canker-worms of worldliness, and the palmer-worms of self- 
indulgence, lay my heart completely desolate, and make my 
soul to languish, all my former fruitfulness and growth in 
grace avails me nothing whatever. How anxious should I 
be to have no lean-fleshed days, no ill-favored hours ! If 
every day I journeyed towards the goal of my desires I should 
soon reach it, but backsliding leaves me still far off from the 
prize of my high calling, and robs me of the advances which 
I had so laboriously made. The only way in which all my 
days can be as the " fat kine," is to feed them in the right 
meadow, to spend them with the Lord, in His service, in His 
company, in His fear, and in His way. Why should not every 
year be richer than the past, in love, and usefulness, and joy ? 
— I am nearer the celestial hills ; I have had more experience 
of my Lord, and should be more like Him. Lord, keep far 
from me the curse of leanness of soul ; let me not have to cry, 
" My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me ! " but may I be well 
fed and nourished in Thy house, that I may praise Thy name. 
16* 




186 daily readings. July 4. 

" Sanctify them through Tliy truth." — John xvii. 17. 

^NOTIFICATION begins in regeneration. The 
fcw Spirit of God infuses into man that new living prin- 
ciple by which he becomes " a new creature " in Christ 
Jesus. This work, which begins in the new birth, is carried 
on in two ways — mortification, whereby the lusts of the flesh 
are subdued and kept under ; and vivification, by which the 
life which God has put within us is made to be a well of 
water springing up unto everlasting life. This is carried on 
every day in what is called " perseverance,*' by which the 
Christian is preserved and continued in a gracious state, and 
is made to abound in good works unto the praise and glory 
of God ; and it culminates or comes to perfection, in " glory," 
when the soul, being thoroughly purged, is caught up to dwell 
with holy beings at the right hand of the Majesty on high. 
But while the Spirit of God is thus the author of sanctifica- 
tion, yet there is a visible agency employed which must not 
be forgotten. " Sanctify them," said Jesus, '* through Thy 
truth. Thy word is truth." The passages of Scripture which 
prove that the instrument of our sanctification is the Word of 
God are very many. The Spirit of God brings to our minds 
the precepts and doctrines of truth, and applies them with 
power. These are heard in the ear, and being received in 
the heart, they work in us to will and to do of God's good 
pleasure. The truth is the sanctifier, and if we do not hear 
or read the truth, we shall not grow in sanctification. We 
only progress in sound living as we progress in sound under- 
standing. " Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light 
unto my path." Do not say of any error, " It is a mere 
matter of opinion." No man indulges an error of judgment, 
without sooner or later tolerating an error in practice. Hold 
fast the truth ; for by so holding the truth shall you be sanc- 
tified by the Spirit of God. 




July 5. DAILY READINGS. 187 

" Called to be saints." — Romans i. 7. 

E are very apt to regard the apostolic saints as if they 
ify were " saints " in a more especial manner than the 
** other children of God. All are " saints " whom God 
has called by His grace and sanctified by His Spirit ; but we 
are apt to look upon the apostles as extraordinary beings, 
scarcely subject to the same weaknesses and temptations as 
ourselves. Yet in so doing, we are forgetful of this truth, 
that the nearer a man lives to God, the more intensely has 
he to mourn over his own evil heart ; and the more his Mas- 
ter honors him in His service, the more also doth the evil of 
the flesh vex and tease him day by day. The fact is, if we 
had seen the apostle Paul, we should have thought him re- 
markably like the rest of the chosen family ; and if we had 
talked with him, we should have said, " We find that his ex- 
perience and ours are much the same. He is more faithful, 
more holy, and more deeply taught than we are, but he has 
the selfsame trials to endure. Nay, in some respects he is 
more sorely tried than ourselves." Do not, then, look upon 
the ancient saints as being exempt either from infirmities or 
sins ; and do not regard them with that mystic reverence 
which will almost make us idolaters. Their holiness is at- 
tainable even by us. We are " called to be saints," by that 
same voice which constrained them to their high vocation. 
It is a Christian's duty to force his way into the inner circle 
of saintship ; and if these saints were superior to us in their 
attainments, as they certainly were, let us follow them ; let 
us emulate their ardor and holiness. We have the same 
light that they had, the same grace is accessible to us, and 
why should we rest satisfied until we have equalled them 
in heavenly character ? They lived with Jesus, they lived 
for Jesus, therefore they grew like Jesus. Let us live by 
the same Spirit as they did, " looking unto Jesus," and our 
saintship will soon be apparent. 



188 DAILY READINGS. Jllly 6. 

* Whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet 
from fear of evil." — Proverbs i. 33. 

^^\IYINE love is rendered conspicuous when it shines 
^gjjg in the midst of judgments. Fair is that lone star 
which smiles through the rifts of the thunder-clouds ; 
bright is the oasis which blooms in the wilderness of sand ; 
so fair and so bright is love in the midst of wrath. When the 
Israelites provoked the Most High by their continued idolatry, 
He punished them by withholding both dew and rain, so that 
their land was visited by a sore famine ; but while He did this, 
He took care that His own chosen ones should be secure. If 
all other brooks are dry, yet shall there' be one reserved for 
Elijah ; and when that fails, God shall still preserve for him a 
place of sustenance ; nay, not only so, the Lord had not simply 
one " Elijah," but He had a remnant, according to the elec- 
tion of grace, who were hidden by fifties in a cave, and though 
the whole land was subject to famine, yet these fifties in the 
cave were fed, and fed from Ahab's table too by His faithful, 
God-fearing steward, Obadiah. Let us from this draw the in- 
ference, that come what may, God's people are safe. Let con- 
vulsions shake the solid earth, let the skies themselves be rent 
in twain, yet amid the wreck of worlds the believer shall be as 
secure as in the calmest hour of rest. If God cannot save His 
people under heaven, He will save them in heaven. If the 
world becomes too hot to hold them, then heaven shall be the 
place of their reception and their safety. Be ye then confi- 
dent, when ye hear of wars, and rumors of wars. Let no 
agitation distress you, but be quiet from fear of evil. What- 
soever cometh upon the earth, you, beneath the broad wings 
of Jehovah, shall be secure. Stay yourself upon His prom- 
ise ; rest in His faithfulness, and bid defiance to the blackest 
future, for there is nothing in it direful for you. Your sole 
concern should be to show forth to the world the blessedness 
of hearkening to the voice of wisdom. 




July 7. DAILY READINGS. 189 

" Brethren, pray for us " — 1 Thessalonians v. 25. 

f*«gHIS one morning in the year we reserved to refresh 
the reader's memory upon the subject of prayer for 
ministers, and we do most earnestly implore every 
Christian household to grant the fervent request of the text 
first uttered by an apostle and now repeated by us. Brethren, 
our work is solemnly momentous, involving weal or woe to 
thousands ; we treat with souls for God on eternal business, 
and our word is either a savor of life unto life, or of death 
unto death. A very heavy responsibility rests upon us, and it 
will be no small mercy if at the last we be found clear of the 
blood of all men. As officers in Christ's army, we are the 
especial mark of the enmity of men and devils ; they watch 
for our halting, and labor to take us by the heels. Our 
sacred calling involves us in temptations from which you are 
exempt ; above all it too often draws us away from our per- 
sonal enjoyment of truth, into a ministerial and official con- 
sideration of it. We meet with many knotty cases, and our 
wits are at a nonplus ; we observe very sad backslidings, and 
our hearts are wounded; we see millions perishing, and our 
spirits sink. We wish to profit you by our preaching ; we 
desire to be blest to your children ; we long to be useful both 
to saints and sinners ; therefore, dear friends, intercede for 
us with our God. Miserable men are we if we miss the aid 
of your prayers, but happy are we if we live in your suppli- 
cations. You do not look to us, but to our Master, for spirit- 
ual blessings ; and yet how many times has He given those 
blessings through His ministers! Ask, then, again and again, 
that we may be the earthen vessels into which the Lord may 
put the treasures of the gospel. We, the whole company of 
missionaries, ministers, city-missionaries, and students, do, 
in the name of Jesus, beseech you 

a Brethren, pray for its." 



190 daily readings. July 8. 

" Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth" 
Judges xvi. 6. 

IH^HEPtE lies the secret strength of faith ? It lies in the 
food it feeds on ; for faith studies what the promise is 
— an emanation of divine grace, an overflowing of 
the great heart of God ; and faith says, " My God could not 
have given this promise, except from love and grace ; there- 
fore it is quite certain His Word will be fulfilled." Then 
faith thinketh, " Who gave this promise ? " It considereth 
not so much its greatness, as " Who is the author of it ? " 
She remembers that it is God, who cannot lie — God om- 
nipotent, God immutable ; and therefore concludeth that the 
promise must be fulfilled ; and forward she advances in this 
firm conviction. She remembereth why the promise was given, 
— namely, for God's glory, and she feels perfectly sure that 
God's glory is safe, that He will never stain His own escutch- 
eon, nor mar the lustre of His own crown ; and therefore 
the promise must and will stand. Then faith also considereth 
the amazing ivork of Christ as being a clear proof of the 
Father's intention to fulfil His word. " He that spared not 
His own Son, but freely delivered Him up for us all, how 
shall He not with Him also freely give us all things ? " More- 
over, faith looks back upon the past, for her battles have 
strengthened her, and her victories have given her courage. 
She remembers that God never has failed her ; nay, that 
He never did once fail any of His children. She recollecteth 
times of great peril, when deliverance came ; hours of awful 
need, when as her day her strength was found, and she cries, 
" No, I never will be led to think that He can change and 
leave His servant now." " Hitherto the Lord hath helped 
me, and He will help me still." Thus faith views each 
promise in its connection with the Promise-giver, and, be- 
cause she does so, can with assurances ay, " Surely goodness 
and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life ! " 



July 9. DAILY READINGS. 191 

"Forget not all His benefits" — Psalm ciii. 2. 

^f ?§T is a delightful and profitable occupation to mark 
(§1 8$ the hand of God in the lives of ancient saints, and to 
y/x£W> 0DSer ve His goodness in delivering them, His mercy 
in pardoning them, and His faithfulness in keeping His cove- 
nant with them. But would it not be even more interesting and 
profitable for us to remark the hand of God in our own lives ? 
Ought we not to look upon our own history as being at least 
as full of God, as full of His goodness and of His truth, as 
much a proof of His faithfulness and veracity, as the lives of 
any of the saints who have gone before ? We do our Lord 
an injustice when we suppose that He wrought all his mighty 
acts, and showed Himself strong for those in the early time, 
but doth not perform wonders or lay bare His arm for the 
saints who are now upon the earth. Let us review our own 
lives. Surely in these we may discover some happy incidents, 
refreshing to ourselves and glorifying to our God. Have 
you had no deliverances f Have you passed through no 
rivers supported by the divine presence ? Have you walked 
through no fires unharmed ? Have you had no manifestations f 
Have you had no choice favors f The God who gave Solo- 
mon the desire of his heart, hath He never listened to you 
and answered your requests ? That God of lavish bounty of 
whom David sang, " Who satisfieth thy mouth with good 
things," hath He never satiated you with fatness ? Have 
you never been made to lie down in green pastures ? Have 
you never been led by the still waters ? Surely the goodness 
of God has been the same to us as to the saints of old. Let 
us, then, weave His mercies into a song. Let us take the 
pure gold of thankfulness, and the jewels of praise, and make 
them into another crown for the head of Jesus. Let our souls 
give forth music as sweet and as exhilarating as came from 
David's harp, while we praise the Lord, whose mercy endur- 
eth forever. 



192 daily readings. July 10. 

" Fellow-citizens with the saints," — Ephesians ii. 19. 

^jHAT is meant -by our being citizens in heaven ? It 
^ means that we are under heavens government. Christ, 
the King of heaven, reigns in our hearts ; our daily 
prayer is, " Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." 
The proclamations issued from the throne of glory are 
freely received by us ; the decrees of the Great King we 
cheerfully obey. Then, as citizens of the New Jerusalem, we 
share heaven's honors. The glory which belongs to beatified 
saints belongs to us, for we are already sons of Grod, already 
princes of the blood imperial ; already we wear the spotless 
robe of Jesus' righteousness ; already we have angels for our 
servitors, saints for our companions, Christ for our brother, 
God for our Father, and a crown of immortality for our re- 
ward. We share the honors of citizenship, for we have 
come to the general assembly and Church of the first-born 
whose names are written in heaven. As citizens, we have 
common rights to all the property of heaven. Ours are its 
gates of pearl and walls of chrysolite ; ours the azure light 
of the city that needs no candle nor light of the sun ; ours 
the river of the water of life, and the twelve manner of fruits 
which grow on the trees planted on the banks thereof; there 
is nought in heaven that belongeth not to us. " Things 
present, or things to come," all are ours. Also, as citizens 
of heaven, we enjoy its delights. Do they there rejoice over 
sinners that repent — prodigals that have returned ? So do 
we. Do they chant the glories of triumphant grace ? We 
do the same. Do they cast their crowns at Jesus' feet ? 
Such honors as we have we cast there too. Are they charmed 
with His smile ? It is not less sweet to us who dwell below. 
Do they look forward, waiting for His second advent ? We 
also look and long for His appearing. If, then, we are thus 
citizens of heaven, let our walk and actions be consistent with 
our high dignity. 




July 11. DAILY HEADINGS. 193 

" After that ye have suffered awhile, make you perfect, stablish, 
strengthen, settle you." — 1 Peter v. 10. 

JOU have seen the arch of heaven as it spans the 
plain : glorious are its colors, and rare its hues. It is 
beautiful, but, alas, it passes away, and lo, it is not. 
The fair colors give way to the fleecy clouds, and the 
sky is no longer brilliant with the tints of heaven. It is not 
established. How can it be ? A glorious show made up of 
transitory sunbeams and passing rain-drops, how can it 
abide ? The graces of the Christian character must not re- 
semble the rainbow in its transitory beauty, but, on the con- 
trary, must be stablished, settled, abiding. Seek, believer, 
that every good thing you have may be an abiding thing. 
May your character not be a writing upon the sand, but an 
inscription upon the rock. May your faith be no " baseless 
fabric of a vision," but may it be builded of material able to 
endure that awful fire which shall consume the wood, hay, 
and stubble of the hypocrite. May you be rooted and 
grounded in love. May your convictions be deep, your love 
real, your desires earnest. May your whole life be so set- 
tled and established that all the blasts of hell and all the 
storms of earth shall never be able to remove you. But notice 
how this blessing of being " stablished in the faith" is gained. 
The apostle's words point us to suffering as the means em- 
ployed — "After that ye have suffered awhile.''' It is of no use 
to hope that we shall be well rooted if no rough winds pass over 
us. Those old gnarlings on the root of the oak tree, and those 
strange twistings of the branches, all tell of the many storms 
that have swept over it, and they are also indicators of the 
depth into which the roots have forced their way. So the 
Christian is made strong and firmly rooted by all the trials and 
storms of life. Shrink not then from the tempestuous winds 
of trial, but take comfort, believing that by their rough dis- 
cipline Grod is fulfilling this benediction to you. 
17 




194 DAILY headings. July 12. 

"Sanctified by God the Father." — Jude 1. "Sanctified in Christ 
Jesus" — 1 Corinthians i. 2. " Through sanctification of the 
Spirit" — 1 Peter i. 2. 

)ARK the union of the Three Divine Persons in all 
1$ their gracious acts. How unwisely do those believ- 
ers talk, who make preferences in the Persons of the 
Trinity ; who think of Jesus as if He were the embodiment 
of everything' lovely and gracious, while the Father they 
regard as severely just, but destitute of kindness. Equally 
wrong are those who magnify the decree of the Father, and 
the atonement of the Son, so as to depreciate the work of 
the Spirit. In deeds of grace, none of the Persons of the 
Trinity act apart from the rest. They are as united in their 
deeds as in their essence. In their love towards the chosen 
they are one, and in the actions which flow from that great 
central source they are still undivided. Specially notice this 
in the matter of sanctification. While we may without mis- 
take speak of sanctification as the work of the Spirit, yet we 
must take heed that we do not view it as if the Father and 
the Son had no part therein. It is correct to speak of sanc- 
tification as the work of the Father, of the Son, and of the 
Spirit. Still doth Jehovah say, " Let Us make man in Our 
own image after Our likeness," and thus we are "His work- 
manship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which 
Ood hath before ordained that we should walk in them." 
See the value which Ood sets upon real holiness, since the 
Three Persons in the Trinity are represented as co-working 
to produce a Church "without spot, or wrinkle, or any such 
thing." And you, believer, as the follower of Christ, must 
also set a high value on holiness — upon purity of life and 
godliness of conversation. Value the blood of Christ as the 
foundation of your hope, but never speak disparagingly of 
the work of the Spirit which is your meetness for the inher- 
itance of the saints in light. This day let us so live as to 
manifest the work of the Triune Ood in us. 




July 13. DAILY READINGS. 195 

" God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angr-y?" — Jon. iv. 9. 

jNGER is not always or necessarily sinful, but it has 
such a tendency to run wild, that, whenever it dis- 
plays itself, we should be quick to question its char- 
acter with this inquiry, " Doest thou well to be angry ? " It 
may be that we can answer, " YES." Very frequently anger 
is the madman's firebrand, but sometimes it is Elijah's fire 
from heaven. We do well when we are angry with sin, be- 
cause of the wrong which it commits against our good and 
gracious God ; or with ourselves, because we remain so fool- 
ish after so much divine instruction ; or with others, when 
the sole cause of anger is the evil which they do. He who 
is not angry at transgression becomes a partaker in it. Sin 
is a loathsome and hateful thing, and no renewed heart can 
patiently endure it. God Himself is angry with the wicked 
every day, and it is written in His Word, " Ye that love the 
Lord, hate evil." Far more frequently it is to be feared 
that our anger is not commendable, or even justifiable, and 
then we must answer, " NO." Why should we be fretful 
with children, passionate with servants, and wrathful with 
companions ? Is such anger honorable to our Christian pro- 
fession, or glorifying to God ? Is it not the old evil heart 
seeking to gain dominion, and should we not resist it with 
all the might of our new-born nature. Many professors give 
way to temper as though it were useless to attempt resist- 
ance ; but let the believer remember that he must be a con- 
queror in every point, or else he cannot be crowned. If we 
cannot control our tempers, what has grace done for us ? 
Some one told Mr. Jay that grace was often grafted on a 
crab-stump. "Yes," said he, "but the fruit will not be 
crabs." We must not make natural infirmity an excuse for 
sin, but we must fly to the cross, and pray the Lord to cru- 
cify our tempers, and renew us in gentleness and meekness 
after His own image. 




196 daily headings. July 14. 

" If thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it." — Ex. xx. 25. 

Jg^OD'S altar was to be built of unhewn stones, that no 
trace of human skill or labor might be seen upon it. 
Human wisdom delights to trim and "arrange the doc- 
trines of the cross into a system more artificial and more 
congenial with the depraved tastes of fallen nature ; instead, 
however, of improving the gospel, carnal wisdom pollutes it, 
until it becomes another gospel, and not the truth of God at 
all. All alterations and amendments of the Lord's own 
Word are defilements and pollutions. The proud heart of 
man is very anxious to have a hand in the justification of the 
soul before (rod ; preparations for Christ are dreamed of, 
humblings and repentings are trusted in, good works are 
cried up, natural ability is much vaunted, and by all means 
the attempt is made to lift up human tools upon the divine 
altar. It were well if sinners would remember that, so far 
from perfecting the Saviour's work, their carnal confidences 
only pollute and dishonor it. The Lord alone must be ex- 
alted in the work of atonement, and not a single mark of 
man's chisel or hammer will be endured. There is an in- 
herent blasphemy in seeking to add to what Christ Jesus in 
His dying moments declared to be finished, or to improve 
that in which the Lord Jehovah finds perfect satisfaction. 
Trembling sinner, away with thy tools, and fall upon thy 
knees in humble supplication ; and accept the Lord Jesus to 
be the altar of thine atonement, and rest in Him alone. 

Many professors may take warning from this morning's 
text as to the doctrines which they believe. There is among 
Christians far too much inclination to square and reconcile 
the truths of revelation ; this is a form of irreverence and 
unbelief ; let us strive against it, and receive truth as we 
find it; rejoicing that the doctrines of the Word are unhewn 
stones, and so are all the more fit to build an altar for the 
Lord. 



July 15. DAILY HEADINGS. 197 

11 The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go 
out." — Leviticus vi. 13. 

5jJS§^EEP the altar of private prayer burning. This is the 
Hf w& very life of all piety. The sanctuary and family altars 
t^^* borrow their fires here ; therefore let this burn well. 
Secret devotion is the very essence, evidence, and barometer 
of vital and experimental religion. Burn here the fat of 
your sacrifices. Let your closet seasons be, if possible, reg- 
ular, frequent, and undisturbed. Effectual prayer availeth 
much. Have you nothing to pray for ? Let us suggest the 
Church, the ministry, your own soul, your children, your re- 
lations, your neighbors, your country, and the cause of God 
and truth throughout the world. Let us examine ourselves 
on this important matter. Do we engage with lukewarmness 
in private devotion ? Is the fire of devotion burning dimly 
in our hearts ? Do the chariot wheels drag heavily ? If so, 
let us be alarmed at this sign of decay. Let us go with weep- 
ing, and ask for the spirit of grace and of supplication. Let 
us set apart special seasons for extraordinary prayer. For 
if this fire should be smothered beneath the ashes of a worldly 
conformity, it will dim the fire on the family altar, and lessen 
our influence both in the Church and in the world. The text 
will also apply to the altar of the heart. This is a golden altar 
indeed. God loves to see the hearts of His people glowing 
towards Himself. Let us give to God our hearts, all blazing 
with love, and seek His grace, that the fire may never be 
quenched ; for it will not burn if the Lord does not keep it 
burning. Many foes will attempt to extinguish it ; but if 
the unseen hand behind the wall pour thereon the sacred 
oil, it will blaze higher and higher. Let us use texts of 
Scripture as fuel for our heart's fire ; they are live coals ; 
let us attend sermons, but above all let us be much alone 
with Jesus. 

17* 



198 DAILY readings. July 16. 

" They gathered manna every morning." — Exodus xvi. 21. 

|MKABOIl to maintain a sense of thine entire dependence 
3^)1 upon the Lord's good will and pleasure for the contin- 
uance of thy richest enjoyments. Never try to live on 
the old manna, nor seek to find help in Egypt. All must 
come from Jesus, or thou art undone forever. Old anoint- 
ings will not suffice to impart unction to thy spirit ; thine head 
must have fresh oil poured upon it from the golden horn of 
the sanctuary, or it will cease from its glory. To-day thou 
mayst be upon the summit of the mount of God ; but He who 
has put thee there must keep thee there, or thou wilt sink 
far more speedily than thou dreamest. Thy mountain only 
stands firm when He settles it in its place ; if He hide His 
face, thou wilt soon be troubled. If the Saviour should see 
fit, there is not a window through which thou seest the light 
of heaven which He could not darken in an instant. Joshua 
bade the sun stand still, but Jesus can shroud it in total 
darkness. He can withdraw the joy of thine heart, the light 
of thine eyes, and the strength of thy life ; in His hand thy 
comforts lie, and at His will they can depart from thee. This 
hourly dependence our Lord is determined that we shall feel 
and recognize, for He only permits us to pray for " daily 
bread," and only promises that " as our days our strength 
shall be." Is it not best for us that it should be so, that we 
may often repair to His throne, and constantly be reminded 
of His love ? Oh, how rich the grace which supplies us so 
continually, and doth not refrain itself because of our in- 
gratitude ! The golden shower never ceases, the cloud of 
blessing tarries evermore above our habitation. Lord 
Jesus, we would bow at Thy feet, conscious of our utter 
inability to do anything without Thee ; and in every favor 
which we are privileged to receive, we would adore Thy 
blessed name and acknowledge Thine unexhausted love. 



July 17. DAILY READINGS. 199 

"Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God." — 1 Thess. i. 4. 




j2)ANY persons want to know their election before they 
look to Christ ; but they cannot learn it thus ; it is 
only to be discovered by " looking unto Jesus." 
If you desire to ascertain your own election, — after the 
following manner shall you assure your heart before God. 
Do you feel yourself to be a lost, guilty sinner ? Go straight- 
way to the cross of Christ, and tell Jesus so ; and tell Him 
that you have read in the Bible, " Him that cometh unto 
Me I will in no wise cast out." Tell Him that He has said, 
" This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, 
that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners." 
Look to Jesus and believe on Him, and you shall make 
proof of your election directly, for so surely as thou be- 
lievest, thou art elect. If you will give yourself wholly up 
to Christ and trust Him, then you are one of God's chosen 
ones ; but if you stop and say, " I want to know first 
whether I am elect," you ask you know not what. Go to 
Jesus, be you never so guilty, just as you are. Leave all 
curious inquiry about election alone. Go straight to Christ, 
and hide in His wounds, and you shall know your election. 
The assurance of the Holy Spirit shall be given to you, so 
that you shall be able to say, "I know whom I have be- 
lieved, and I am persuaded that He is able to keep that 
which I have committed to Him." Christ was at the ever- 
lasting council : He can tell you whether you were chosen 
or not ; but you cannot find it out in any other way. Go 
and put your trust in Him, and His answer will be, " I have 
loved thee with an everlasting love ; therefore with loving- 
kindness have I drawn thee." There will be no doubt about 
His having chosen you, when you have chosen Him. 

" Sons we are through God's election, 
Who in Jesus Christ believe." 



200 DAILY READINGS. July 18. 

" They shall go hindmost with their standards." — Num. ii. 31. 

^^^HE camp of Dan brought up the rear when the armies 
S[3| of Israel were on the march. The Danites occupied 
*2*=* ,/ ^ the hindmost 'place; but what mattered the position, 
since they were as truly part of the host as were the foremost 
tribes ? They followed the same fiery cloudy pillar ; they ate 
of the same manna, drank of the same spiritual rock, and 
journeyed to the same inheritance. Come, my heart, cheer 
up, though last and least; it is thy privilege to be in the 
army, and to fare as they fare who lead the van. Some one 
must be hindmost in honor and esteem ; some one must do 
menial work for Jesus, and why should not I ? In a poor 
village, among an ignorant peasantry, or in a back street 
among degraded sinners, I will work on, and " go hindmost 
with my standard." The Danites occupied a very useful place. 
Stragglers have to be picked up upon the march, and lost 
property has to be gathered from the field. Fiery spirits may 
dash forward over untrodden paths to learn fresh truth, and 
win more souls to Jesus ; but some of a more conservative 
spirit may be well engaged in reminding the Church of her 
ancient faith, and restoring her fainting sons. Every position 
has its duties, and the slowly moving children of God will find 
their peculiar state, one in which they may be eminently a 
blessing to the whole host. The rear guard is a place of dan- 
ger. There are foes behind us as well as before us. Attacks 
may come from any quarter. We read that Amalek fell upon 
Israel, and slew some of the hindmost of them. The experi- 
enced Christian will find much work for his weapons in aiding 
those poor doubting, desponding, wavering souls, who are 
hindmost in faith, knowledge, and joy. These must not be 
left unaided, and therefore be it the business of well-taught 
saints to bear their standards among the hindmost. My soul, 
do thou tenderly watch to help the hindmost this day. 



July 19. DAILY READINGS. 201 

" The Lord our God hath showed us His glory." — Deut. v. 24. 

f^jOD'S great design in all His works is the manifesta- 
tion of His own glory. Any aim less than this were 
~^ unworthy of Himself. But how shall the glory of 
God be manifested to such fallen creatures as we are ? 
Man's eye is not single ; he has ever a side glance towards 
his own honor, has too high an estimate of his own powers, 
and so is not qualified to behold the glory of the Lord. It 
is clear, then, that self must stand out of the way, that there 
may be room for God to be exalted ; and this is the reason 
why He bringeth His people ofttimes into straits and diffi- 
culties, that, being made conscious of their own folly and 
weakness, they may be fitted to behold the majesty of God 
when He comes forth to work their deliverance. He whose 
life is one even and smooth path, will see but little of the 
glory of the Lord, for he has few occasions of self-emptying, 
and hence but little fitness for being filled with the revela- 
tion of God. They who navigate little streams and shallow 
creeks, know but little of the God of tempests ; but they who 
" do business in great waters," these see His " wonders in 
the deep." Among the huge Atlantic-waves of bereavement, 
poverty, temptation, and reproach, we learn the power of 
Jehovah, because we feel the littleness of man. Thank God, 
then, if you have been led by a rough road ; it is this which 
has given you your experience of God's greatness and loving- 
kindness. Your troubles have enriched you with a wealth 
of knowledge to be gained by no other means ; your trials 
have been the cleft of the rock in which Jehovah has set you, 
as He did His servant Moses, that you might behold His 
glory as it passed by. Praise God that you have not been 
left to the darkness and ignorance which continued pros- 
perity might have involved, but that in the great fight of 
affliction, you have been capacitated for the outshinings of 
His glory in His wonderful dealings with you. 




202 daily readings. July 20. 

" The earnest of our inheritance." — Ephesians i. 14. 

^^H ! what enlightenment, what joys, what consolation, 
what delight of heart is experienced by that man who 

^ has learned to feed on Jesus, and on Jesus alone. 
Yet the realization which we have of Christ's preciousness 
is, in this life, imperfect at the best. As an old writer says, 
" 'Tis but a taste ! " "We have tasted " that the Lord is gra- 
cious," but we do not yet know how good and gracious He 
is, although what we know of His sweetness' makes us long 
for more. We have enjoyed the first-fruits of the Spirit, 
and they have set us hungering and thirsting for the fulness 
of the heavenly vintage. We groan within ourselves, wait- 
ing for the adoption. Here we are like sheep in the wilder- 
ness, who had but one cluster from Eshcol, there we shall be 
in the vineyard. Here we see the manna falling small, like 
coriander seed, but there shall we eat the bread of heaven 
and the old corn of the kingdom. We are but beginners 
now in spiritual education ; for although we have learned 
the first letters of the alphabet, we cannot read words yet, 
much less can we put sentences together ; but, as one says, 
"He that has been in heaven but five minutes, knows more 
than the general assembly of divines on earth." We have 
many ungratified desires at present, but soon every wish shall 
be satisfied ; and all our powers shall find the sweetest em- 
ployment in that eternal world of joy. Christian, antedate 
heaven for a few years. Within a very little time thou shalt 
be rid of all thy trials and thy troubles. Thine eyes, now 
suffused with tears, shall weep no longer. Thou shalt gaze 
in ineffable rapture upon the splendor of Him who sits upon 
the throne. Nay, more, upon His throne shalt thou sit. 
The triumph of His glory shall be shared by thee ; His crown, 
His joy, His Paradise, these shall be thine, and thou shalt be 
co-heir with Him who is the Heir of all things. 



July 21. DAILY HEADINGS. ' 203 

" The daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee." 
Isaiah xxxvii. 22. 

REASSURED by the Word of the Lord, the poor 
&?£\ trembling citizens of Zion grew bold, and shook 
their heads at Sennacherib's boastful threats. Strong 
faith enables the servants of Grod to look with calm con- 
tempt upon their most haughty foes. We know that our 
enemies are attempting impossibilities. They seek to destroy 
the eternal life, which cannot die while Jesus lives ; to over- 
throw the citadel, against which the gates of hell shall not 
prevail. They kick against the pricks to their own wound- 
ing, and rush upon the bosses of Jehovah's buckler to their 
own hurt. 

We know iheir weakness. What are they but men ? And 
what is man but a worm ? They roar and swell, like waves 
of the sea, foaming out their own shame. When the Lord 
ariseth, they shall fly as chaff before the wind, and be con- 
sumed as crackling thorns. Their utter powerlessness to do 
damage to the cause of God and His truth, may make the 
weakest soldiers in Zion's ranks laugh them to scorn. 

Above all, we know that the Most High is with us, and when 
He dresses Himself in arms, where are His enemies ! If He 
cometh forth from His place, the potsherds of the earth will 
not long contend with their Maker. His rod of iron shall 
dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel, and their very 
remembrance shall perish from the earth. Away, then, all 
fears ; the kingdom is safe in the King's hands. Let us shout 
for joy, for the Lord reigneth, and His foes shall be as straw 
for the dunghill. 

" As true as God's own word is true, 
Nor earth nor hell, with all their crew, 

Against us shall prevail. 
A jest and by-word are they grown ; 
God is with us, we are his own ; 
Our victory cannot fail." 




204 DAILY READINGS. Julj 22. 

" / am married unto you." — Jeremiah iii. 14. 

^HRIST Jesus is joined unto His people in marriage- 
union. In love He espoused His Church as a chaste 
virgin, long before she fell under the yoke of bond- 
age. Full of burning affection, He toiled, like Jacob for 
Kachel, until the whole of her purchase-money had been 
paid ; and now, having sought her by His spirit, and brought 
her to know and love Him, He awaits the glorious hour when 
their mutual bliss shall be consummated at the marriage- 
supper of the Lamb. Not yet hath the glorious Bridegroom 
presented His betrothed, perfected and complete, before the 
Majesty of heaven ; not yet hath she actually entered upon 
the enjoyment of her dignities as His wife and queen ; she 
is as yet a wanderer in a world of woe, a dweller in the tents 
of Kedar ; but she is even now the bride, the spouse of 
Jesus, dear to His heart, precious in His sight, written on 
His hands, and united with His person. On earth He exer- 
cises towards her all the affectionate offices of Husband. He 
makes rich provision for her wants, pays all her debts, allows 
her to assume His name, and to share in all His wealth. 
Nor will He ever act otherwise to her. The word divorce 
He will never mention, for " He hateth putting away." Death 
must sever the conjugal tie between the most loving mortals, 
but it cannot divide the links of this immortal marriage. In 
heaven they marry not, but are as the angels of God, yet 
there is this one marvellous exception to the rule, for in 
heaven Christ and His Church shall celebrate their joyous 
nuptials. This affinity, as it is more lasting, so is it more 
near than earthly wedlock. Let the love of husband be 
never so pure and fervent, it is but a faint picture of the 
flame which burns in the heart of Jesus. Passing all human 
union is that mystical cleaving unto the Church, for which 
Christ left His Father, and became one flesh with her. 




July 23. DAILY HEADINGS. 205 

"Even thou wast as one of them." — Obadiah i. 11. 

BROTHERLY kindness was due from Edom to Israel 
in the time of need, but instead thereof, the men of 
*£ Esau made common cause with Israel's foes. Special 
stress in the sentence before us is laid upon the word thou ; 
as when Csesar cried to Brutus, " And thou, Brutus ; " a bad 
action may be all the worse because of the person who has 
committed it. When we sin, who are the chosen favorites of 
Heaven, we sin with an emphasis ; ours is a crying offence, 
because we are so peculiarly indulged. If an angel should 
lay his hand upon us when we are doing evil, he need not 
use any other rebuke than the question, " What, thou ? What 
dost thou here ? " Much forgiven, much delivered, much 
instructed, much enriched, much blessed, shall we dare to put 
forth our hand unto evil ? God forbid ! 

A few minutes of confession may be beneficial to thee, 
gentle reader, this morning. Hast thou never been as the 
wicked ? At an evening party certain men laughed at un- 
cleanness, and the joke was not altogether offensive to thine 
ear ; even thou wast as one of them. When hard things were 
spoken concerning the ways of God, thou wast bashfully 
silent ; and so, to on-lookers, thou wast as one of them. When 
worldlings were bartering in the market, and driving hard 
bargains, wast thou not as one of them ? W T hen they were 
pursuing vanity with a hunter's foot, wert thou not as greedy 
for gain as they were ? Could any difference be discerned 
between thee and them ? 7s there any difference f Here we 
come to close quarters. Be honest with thine own soul, and 
make sure that thou art a new creature in Christ Jesus ; but 
when this is sure, walk jealously, lest any should again be able 
to say, " Even thou wast as one of them." Thou wouldst not 
desire to share their eternal doom ; why then be like them here ? 
Come not thou into their secret, lest thou come into their ruin. 
Side with the afflicted people of God, and not with the world. 
18 




206 daily headings. July 24. 

"Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord." — Exodus xiv. 13. 

^HESE words contain God's command to the believer 
when he is reduced to great straits and brought into 
extraordinary difficulties. He cannot retreat ; he 
cannot go forward ; he is shut up on the right hand and on 
the left ; what is he now to do ? The Master's word to him 
is, " Stand still." It will be well for him if at such times he 
listens only to his Master's word, for other and evil advisers 
come with their suggestions. Despair whispers, "Lie down 
and die ; give it all up." But God would have us put on a 
cheerful courage, and even in our worst times, rejoice in His 
love and faithfulness. Cowardice says, " Retreat ; go back 
to the worldling's way of action ; you cannot play the Chris- 
tian's part ; it is too difficult. Relinquish your principles." 
But, however much Satan may urge this course upon you, you 
cannot follow it if you are a child of God. His divine fiat 
has bid thee go from strength to strength, and so thou shalt, 
and neither death nor hell shall turn thee from thy course. 
What if for a while thou art called to stand still ; yet this is 
but to renew thy strength for some greater advance in due 
time. Precipitancy cries, " Do something. Stir yourself; to 
stand still and wait is sheer idleness." We must be doing 
something at once — we must do it, so we think — instead of 
looking to the Lord, who will not only do something, but will 
do everything. Presumption boasts, " If the sea be before 
you, march into it, and expect a miracle." But Faith listens 
neither to Presumption, nor to Despair, nor to Cowardice, 
nor to Precipitancy, but it hears God say, " Stand still," and 
immovable as a rock it stands. "/Standstill;" — keep the 
posture of an upright man, ready for action, expecting further 
orders, cheerfully and patiently awaiting the directing voice ; 
and it will not be long ere God shall say to you, as distinctly 
as Moses said it to the people of Israel, " Go forward." 



July 25. DAILY READINGS. 207 

" He left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out" 
Genesis xxxix. 12. 

JN contending with certain sins, there remains no 
^ mode of victory but by flight. The ancient nat- 
uralists wrote much of basilisks, whose eyes fasci- 
nated their victims, and rendered them easy victims ; so the 
mere gaze of wickedness puts us in solemn danger. He who 
would be safe from acts of evil must haste away from occa- 
sions of it. A covenant must be made with our eyes not even 
to look upon the cause of temptation, for such sins only need 
a spark to begin with, and a blaze follows in an instant. 
Who would wantonly enter the leper's prison and sleep amid 
its horrible corruption ? He only who desires to be leprous 
himself would thus court contagion. If the mariner knew 
how to avoid a storm, he would do anything rather than run 
the risk of weathering it ? Cautious pilots have no desire to 
try how near the quicksand they can sail, or how often they 
may touch a rock without springing a leak ; their aim is to 
keep as nearly as possible in the midst of a safe channel. 

This day I may be exposed to great peril ; let me have the 
serpent's wisdom to keep out of it and avoid it. The wings 
of a dove may be of more use to me to-day than the jaws of 
a lion. It is true I may be an apparent loser by declining 
evil company, but I had better leave my cloak than lose my 
character ; it is not needful that I should be rich, but it is 
imperative upon me to be pure. No ties of friendship, no 
chains of beauty, no flashings of talent, no shafts of ridicule 
must turn me from the wise resolve to flee from sin. The 
devil I am to resist, and he will flee from me ; but the lusts 
of the flesh I must flee, or they will surely overcome me. 
God of holiness, preserve Thy Josephs, that Madam 
Bubble bewitch them not with her vile suggestions. May 
the horrible trinity of the world, the flesh, and the devil, 
never overcome us. 




208 daily headings. July 26. 

" Giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, and to virtue 
knowledge" &c. — 2 Peter i. 5, 6. 

jF thou wouldst enjoy the eminent grace of the full 
^j assurance of faith, under the blessed Spirit's influ- 
ence and assistance, do what the Scripture tells thee 
— " Give diligence." Take care that thy faith is of the right 
kind — that it is not a mere belief of doctrine, but a simple 
faith, depending on Christ, and on Christ alone. Give dili- 
gent heed to thy courage. Plead with God that He would 
give thee the face of a lion, that thou mayst, with a con- 
sciousness of right, go on boldly. Study well the Scriptures, 
and get knowledge; for a knowledge of doctrine will tend 
very much to confirm faith. Try to understand God's Word ; 
let it dwell in thy heart richly. 

When thou hast done this, " add to thy knowledge tem- 
perance." Take heed to thy body ; be temperate without. 
Take heed to thy soul ; be temperate within. Get temper- 
ance of lip, life, heart, and thought. Add to this, by God's 
Holy Spirit, patience; ask Him to give thee that patience 
which endureth affliction ; which, when it is tried, shall come 
forth as gold. Array yourself with patience, that you may 
not murmur nor be depressed in your afflictions. When that 
grace is won, look to godliness. Godliness is something 
more than religion. Make God's glory your object in life ; 
live in His sight ; dwell close to Him ; seek for fellowship 
with Him ; and thou hast " godliness ; " and to that add 
brotherly love. Have a love to all the saints ; and add to that 
a charity, which openeth its arms to. all men, and loves their 
souls. When you are adorned with these jewels, and just in 
proportion as you practise these heavenly virtues, will you 
come to know by clearest evidence " your calling and elec- 
tion." " Give diligence," if you would get assurance, for 
lukewarmness and doubting very naturally go hand in hand. 



July 27. DAILY READINGS. 209 

"Exceeding great and precious promises." — 2 Peter i. 4. 

'^F you would know experimentally the preciousness 
m of the promises, and enjoy them in your own heart, 
meditate much upon them. There are promises which 
are like grapes in the wine-press : if you will tread them the 
juice will flow. Thinking over the hallowed words will often 
be the prelude to their fulfilment. While you are musing 
upon them, the boon which you are seeking will insensibly 
come to you. Many a Christian who has thirsted for the 
promise has found the favor which it insured gently distilling 
into his soul even while he has been considering the divine 
record ; and he has rejoiced that ever he was led to lay the 
promise near his heart. But besides meditating upon the 
promises, seek in thy soul to receive them as being the very 
words of God. Speak to thy soul thus : " If I were dealing 
with a man's promise, I should carefully consider the ability 
and the character of the man who had covenanted with me. 
So with the promise of God ; my eye must not be so much 
fixed upon the greatness of the mercy — that may stagger 
me, as upon the greatness of the Promiser — that will cheer 
me. My soul, it is God, even thy God, God that cannot 
lie, who speaks to thee. This word of His which thou art 
now considering is as true as His own existence. He is a 
God unchangeable. He has not altered the thing which has 
gone out of His mouth, nor called back one single consola- 
tory sentence. Nor doth He lack any power ; it is the God 
that made the heavens and the earth who has spoken thus. 
Nor can He fail in wisdom as to the time when He will be- 
stow the favors, for He knoweth when it is best to give, and 
when better to withhold. Therefore, seeing that it is the 
word of a God so true, so immutable, so powerful, so wise, 
I will and must believe the promise." If we thus meditate 
upon the promises, and consider the Promiser, we shall ex- 
perience their sweetness, and obtain their fulfilment. 
18* 



210 DAILY READINGS. July 28. 

" So foolish was I, and ignorant : I was as a beast before thee" 
Psalm lxxiii. 22. 

IJfplEMEMBER,, this is the confession of the man after 
(ftlfcfe} God's own heart ; and, in telling us his inner life, he 
^* y ^ writes, " So foolish was I, and ignorant." The word 
"foolish" here, means more than it signifies in ordinary 
language. David, in a former verse of the Psalm, writes, 
" I was envious of the foolish when I saw the prosperity of 
the wicked," which shows that the folly he intended had sin 
in it. He puts himself down as being thus " foolish," and 
adds a word which is to give intensity to it : " so foolish was 
I." How foolish, he could not tell. It was a sinful folly, a 
folly which was not to be excused by frailty, but to be con- 
demned because of its perverseness and wilful ignorance, for 
he had been envious of the present prosperity of the ungodly, 
forgetful of the dreadful end awaiting all such. And are we 
better than David, that we should call ourselves wise ? Do 
we profess that we have attained perfection, or to have been 
so chastened that the rod has taken all our wilfulness out of 
us ? Ah, this were pride indeed ! If David was foolish, 
how foolish should we be in our own esteem if we could but 
see ourselves ! Look back, believer : think of your doubting 
God when he has been so faithful to you — think of your 
foolish outcry of, " Not so, my Father," when He crossed His 
hands in affliction to give you the larger blessing ; think of 
the many times when you have read His providences in the 
dark, misinterpreted His dispensations, and groaned out, 
"All these things are against me," when they were all Work- 
ing together for your good ! Think how often you have 
chosen sin because of its pleasure, when, indeed, that pleas- 
ure was a root of bitterness to you ! Surely if we know our 
own heart we must plead guilty to the indictment of a sinful 
folly; and, conscious of this "foolishness," we must make 
David's consequent resolve our own — "Thou shall guide me 
with Thy counsel." 



July 29. DAILY EEADINGS. 211 

"Nevertheless, I am continually with Thee." — Ps. lxxiii. 23. 



NEVERTHELESS. — As if, notwithstanding all the 



1 

M $?? foolishness and ignorance which David had just been 

JWy&K confessing to God, not one atom the less was it true 
and certain that David was saved and accepted, and that the 
blessing of being constantly in God's presence was undoubt- 
edly his. Fully conscious of his own lost estate, and of the 
deceitfulness and vileness of his nature, yet, by a glorious 
outburst of faith, he sings, " Nevertheless, I am continually 
with Thee/' Believer, you are forced to enter into Daniel's 
confession and acknowledgment ; endeavor in like spirit to 
say, " Nevertheless, since I belong to Christ I am continu- 
ally with God ! " By this is meant continually upon His 
mind ; He is always thinking of me for my good. Continu- 
ally before His eye ; the eye of the Lord never sleepeth, 
but is perpetually watching over my welfare. Continually 
in His hand, so that none shall be able to pluck me thence. 
Continually on His heart, worn there as a memorial, even as 
the high priest bore the names of the twelve tribes upon his 
heart forever. Thou always thinkest of me, God. The 
bowels of Thy love continually yearn towards me. Thou 
art always making providence work for my good. Thou hast 
set me as a signet upon Thine arm ; Thy love is strong as 
death ; many waters cannot quench it, neither can the floods 
drown it. Surprising grace ! Thou seest me in Christ, and, 
though in myself abhorred, Thou beholdest me as wearing 
Christ's garments, and washed in His blood, and thus I stand 
accepted in Thy presence. I am thus continually in Thy 
favor — " continually with Thee." Here is comfort for the 
tried and afflicted soul ; vexed with the tempest within — 
look at the calm without. "Nevertheless " — say it in thy 
heart, and take the peace it gives. " Nevertheless, I am 
continually with Thee." 




212 DAILY headings. July 30. 

" And when he thought thereon, he wept." — Mark xiv. 72. 

WF has been thought by some, that, as long as Peter 
lived, the fountain of his tears began to flow when- 
ever he remembered his denying his Lord. It is not 
unlikely that it was so, for his sin was very great, and grace 
in him had afterwards a perfect work. This same experi- 
ence is common to all the redeemed family according to the 
degree in which the Spirit of God has removed the natural 
heart of stone. We, like Peter, remember our boastful 
promise : " Though all men shall forsake Thee, yet will not 
I." We eat our own words with the bitter herbs of repent- 
ance. When we think of what we vowed we would be, and 
of what we have been, we may weep whole showers of 
grief. He thought on his denying his Lord, the place in 
which he did it, the little cause which led him into such 
heinous sin, the oaths and blasphemies with which he sought 
to confirm. his falsehood, and the dreadful hardness of heart 
which drove him to do so again and yet again. Can we, 
when we are reminded of our sins and their exceeding sin- 
fulness, remain stolid and stubborn ? Will we not make our 
house a Bochim, and cry unto the Lord for renewed assur- 
ances of pardoning love ? May we never take a dry-eyed 
look at sin, lest ere long we have a tongue parched in the 
flames of hell. Peter also thought upon his Master's look of 
love. The Lord followed up the cock's warning voice with 
an admonitory look of sorrow, pity, and love. That glance 
was never out of Peter's mind so long as he lived. It was 
far more effectual than ten thousand sermons would have 
been without the Spirit. The penitent apostle would be sure 
to weep when he recollected the Saviour s full forgiveness, 
which restored him to his former place. To think that we 
have offended so kind and good a Lord is more than suffi- 
cient reason for being constant weepers. Lo<rd, smite our 
rocky hearts, and make the waters flow. 



July 31. DAILY READINGS. 213 

"J in them." — John xvii. 23. 

jftiF such be the union which subsists between our 
yj souls and the person of our Lord, how deep and broad 
^ is the channel of our communion ! This is no narrow 
pipe through which a thread-like stream may wind its way ; 
it is a channel of amazing depth and breadth, along whose 
glorious length a ponderous volume of living water may roll 
its floods. Behold He hath set before us an open door ; let 
us not be slow to enter. This city of communion hath many 
pearly gates ; every several gate is of one pearl, and each gate 
is thrown open to the uttermost, that we may enter, assured 
of welcome. If there were but one small loophole through 
which to talk with Jesus, it would be a high privilege to 
thrust a word of fellowship through the narrow door ; how 
much we are blessed in having so large an entrance ! 
Had the Lord Jesus been far away from us, with many a 
stormy sea between, we should have longed to send a mes- 
senger to Him to carry Him our loves, and bring us tidings 
from His Father's house ; but see His kindness ; He has 
built His house next door to ours, nay, more, He takes lodg- 
ing with us, and tabernacles in poor bumble hearts, that so 
He may have perpetual intercourse with us. O, how foolish 
must we be, if we do not live in habitual communion with 
Him ! When the road is long, and dangerous, and difficult, 
we need not wonder that friends seldom meet each other ; 
but when they live together, shall Jonathan forget his David ? 
A wife may, when her husband is upon a journey, abide 
many days without holding converse with him, but she could 
never endure to be separated from him if she knew him to be 
in one of the chambers of her own house. Why, believer, 
dost not thou sit at His banquet of wine ? Seek thy Lord, 
for He is near ; embrace Him, for He is thy Brother. Hold 
Him fast, for He is thine Husband ; and press Him to thine 
heart, for He is of thine own flesh. 



214 DAILY READINGS. August 1. 

" Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn." — Ruth ii. 2. 

^^OWNCAST and troubled Christian, come and glean to- 
jH$ day in the broad field of promise. Here are abun- 
dance of precious promises, which exactly meet thy 
wants. Take this one : " He will not break the bruised reed, 
nor quench the smoking flax." Doth not that suit thy case ? 
A reed, helpless, insignificant, and weak ; a bruised reed, 
out of which no music can come ; weaker than weakness 
itself; a reed, and that reed bruised, yet He will not break 
thee ; but, on the contrary, will restore and strengthen thee. 
Thou art like the smoking flax : no light, no warmth can 
come from thee ; but He will not quench thee ; He will blow 
with His sweet breath of mercy till He fans thee to a flame. 
Wouldst thou glean another ear ? " Come unto Me, all ye 
that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." 
What soft words ! Thy heart is tender, and the Master 
knows it, and therefore He speaketh so gently to thee. Wilt 
thou not obey Him, and come to Him even now ? Take an- 
other ear of corn : " Fear not, thou worm Jacob ; I will help 
thee, saith the Lord and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of 
Israel." How canst thou fear with such a wonderful assur- 
ance as this ? Thou mayst gather ten thousand such golden 
ears as these : " I have blotted out thy sins like a cloud, and 
like a thick cloud thy transgressions." Or this : " Though 
your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as wool ; though they 
be red like crimson, they shall be whiter than snow." Or 
this : " The Spirit and the Bride say come ; and let him that 
is athirst come ; and whosoever will, let him take the water 
of life freely." Our Master's field is very rich ; behold the 
handfuls ! See, there they lie before thee, poor timid be- 
liever ! Gather them up, make them thine own, for Jesus 
bids thee take them. Be not afraid, only believe ! Grasp 
these sweet promises, thresh them out by meditation, and 
feed on them with joy. 



AugUSt 2. DAILY HEADINGS. 215 

" Who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will." 
Ephesians i. 12. 

j^p^UR belief in God's wisdom supposes and necessitates 
OTTO *^ afc ^ e ^ as a set ^ e< ^ Purpose and plan in the work 
^* ^ of salvation. What would creation have been with- 
out His design ? Is there a fish in the sea or a fowl in the 
air which was left to chance for its formation ? Nay, in every 
bone, joint, and muscle, sinew, gland, and blood-vessel, you 
mark the presence of a God working everything according 
to the design of infinite wisdom. And shall God be present in 
creation, ruling over all, and not in grace ? Shall the new cre- 
ation have the fickle genius of free will to preside over it when 
divine counsel rules the old creation? Look at Providence ! 
Who knoweth not that not a sparrow falleth to the ground 
without your Father ? Even the hairs of your head are all 
numbered. God weighs the mountains of our grief in scales, 
and the hills of our tribulation in balances. And shall there 
be a God in providence, and not in grace ? Shall the shell be 
ordained by wisdom, and the kernel be left to blind chance ? 
No ; He knows the end from the beginning. He sees in its 
appointed place, not merely the corner-stone which He has 
laid in fair colors, in the blood of His dear Son, but He be- 
holds in their ordained position each of the chosen stones 
taken out of the quarry of nature, and polished by His grace ; 
He sees the whole from corner to cornice, from base to roof, 
from foundation to pinnacle. He hath in His mind a clear 
knowledge of every stone which shall be laid in its prepared 
space, and how vast the edifice shall be, and when the top- 
stone shall be brought forth with shoutings of, " Grace ! 
Grace ! unto it." At the last it shall be clearly seen that in 
every chosen vessel of mercy, Jehovah did as He willed with 
His own ; and that in every part of the work of grace He 
accomplished His purpose, and glorified His own name. 




216 DAILY HEADINGS. August 3. 

" The Lamb is the light thereof." — Revelation xxi. 23. 

QUIETLY contemplate the Lamb as the light of heaven. 
Light in Scripture is the emblem of joy. The joy of 

*® the saints in heaven is comprised in this : Jesus chose 
us, loved us, bought us, cleansed us, robed us, kept us, glo- 
rified us ; we are here entirely through the Lord Jesus. Each 
one of these thoughts shall be to them like a cluster of the 
grapes of Eshcol. Light is also the cause of beauty. Nought 
of beauty is left when light is gone. Without light no radi- 
ance flashes from the sapphire, no peaceful ray proceedeth 
from the pearl ; and thus all the beauty of the saints above 
comes from Jesus. As planets, they reflect the light of the 
Sun of Righteousness ; they live as beams proceeding from 
the central orb. If He withdrew, they must die ; if His 
glory were veiled, their glory must expire. Light is also the 
emblem of knowledge. In heaven our knowledge will be per- 
fect, but the Lord Jesus Himself will be the fountain of it. 
Dark providences, never understood before, will then be 
clearly seen ; and all that puzzles us now will become plain 
to us in the light of the Lamb. Oh, what unfoldings there 
will be, and what glorifying of the God of love ! Light also 
moans manifestation. Light manifests. In this world it doth 
not yet appear what we shall be. God's people are a hidden 
people ; but when Christ receives His people into heaven, He 
will touch them with the wand of His own love, and change 
them into the image of His manifested glory. They were poor 
and wretched, but what a transformation ! They were stained 
with sin, but one touch of His finger, and they are bright as 
the sun and clear as crystal. Oh, what a manifestation ! All 
this proceeds from the exalted Lamb. Whatever there may 
be of effulgent splendor, Jesus shall be the centre and soul 
of it all. Oh, to be present and to sec Him in His own light, 
the King of kings and Lord of lords ! 



AugUSt 4. DAILY HEADINGS. 217 

" The people that do know their God shall be strong." — Dan. xi. 32. 

M^p)VERY believer understands that to know Grod is the 
ffiSpy highest and best form of knowledge ; and this spir- 
^—^> itual knowledge is a source of strength to the Chris- 
tian. It strengthens his faith. Believers are constantly 
spoken of in the Scriptures as being persons who are enlight- 
ened and taught of the Lord ; they are said to " have an unc- 
tion from the Holy One," and it is the Spirit's peculiar office 
to lead them into all truth ; and all this for the increase and 
the fostering of their faith. Knowledge strengthens love, as 
well as faith. Knowledge opens the door, and then through 
that door we see our Saviour. Or, to use another similitude, 
knowledge paints the portrait of Jesus ; and when we see 
that portrait, then we love Him ; we cannot love a Christ 
whom we do not know, at least in some degree. If we know 
but little of the excellences of Jesus, what He has done for 
us, and what He is doing now, we cannot love Him much ; 
but the more we know Him, the more we shall love Him. 
Knowledge also strengthens hope. How can we hope for a 
thing if we do not know of its existence ? Hope may be the 
telescope ; but till we receive instruction, our ignorance 
stands in the front of the glass, and we can see nothing what- 
ever. Knowledge removes the interposing object ; and when 
we look through the bright optic-glass we discern the glory 
to be revealed, and anticipate it with joyous confidence. 
Knowledge supplies us reasons for patience. How shall we 
have patience unless we know something of the sympathy of 
Christ, and understand the good which is to come out of the 
correction which our heavenly Father sends us ? Nor is there 
one single grace of the Christian which, under Grod, will not be 
fostered and brought to perfection by holy knowledge. How 
important, then, is it that we should grow not only in grace, 
but in the " knowledge " of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ! 
19 




218 DAILY READINGS. August 5. 

" We know that all things work together for good to them that love 
God." — Romans viii. 28. 

^PON some points a believer is absolutely sure. He 
knows, for instance, that God sits in the stern-sheets 
of the vessel when it rocks most. He believes that 
an invisible hand is always on the world's tiller, and that, 
wherever providence may drift, Jehovah steers it. That 
reassuring knowledge prepares him for everything. He 
looks over the raging waters, and sees the spirit of Jesus 
treading the billows, and he hears a voice saying, "It is I; 
be not afraid." He knows, too, that God is always wise, 
and, knowing this, he is confident that there can be no acci- 
dents, no mistakes ; that nothing can occur which ought not 
to arise. He can say, " If I should lose all I have, it is 
better that I should lose than have, if God so wills : the 
worst calamity is the wisest and the kindest thing that could 
befall to me if God ordains it." " We know that all things 
work together for good to them that love God." The Chris- 
tian does not merely hold this as a theory, but he knows it 
as a matter of fact. Everything has worked for good as 
yet; the poisonous drugs, mixed in fit proportions, have 
worked the cure ; the sharp cuts of the lancet have cleansed 
out the proud flesh, and facilitated the healing. Every event 
as yet has worked out the most divinely blessed results ; 
and so, believing that God rules all, that He governs wisely, 
that He brings good out of evil, the believer's heart is as- 
sured, and he is enabled calmly to meet each trial as it comes. 
The believer can, in the spirit of true resignation, pray, 
" Send me what thou wilt, my God, so long as it comes from 
Thee ; never came there an ill portion from Thy table to any 
of Thy children." 

" Say not, my soul, ' From whence can God relieve my care ? ' 
Remember that Omnipotence has servants everywhere. 
His method is sublime, His heart profoundly kind ; 
God never is before His time, and never is behind." 



August 6. DAILY READINGS. 219 

11 Watchman, what of the night?" — Isaiah xxi. 11. 

^^l^jHAT enemies are abroad? Errors are a numerous 
horde, and new ones appear every hour : against 
what heresy am I to be on my guard ? Sins creep 
from their lurking-places when the darkness reigns : I must 
myself mount the watch-tower, and watch unto prayer. Our 
heavenly Protector foresees all the attacks which are about 
to be made upon us, and, when as yet the evil designed us 
is but in the desire of Satan, He prays for us that our faith 
fail not when we are sifted as wheat. Continue, gracious 
Watchman, to forewarn us of our foes, and for Zion's sake 
hold not Thy peace. 

" Watchman, what of the night ? " What weather is com- 
ing for the Church ? Are the clouds lowering, or is it all 
clear and fair overhead ? We must care for the Church of 
God with anxious love ; and now that Popery and infidelity 
are both threatening, let us observe the signs of the times, 
and prepare for conflict. 

" Watchman, what of the night ? " What stars are visible ? 
What precious promises suit our present case ? You sound 
the alarm ; give us the consolation also. Christ, the pole- 
star, is ever fixed in His place, and all the stars are secure 
in the right hand of their Lord. 

But, watchman, when comes the morning f The Bride- 
groom tarries. Are there no signs of His coming forth as 
the Sun of Righteousness ? Has not the morning star arisen 
as the pledge of day ? When will the day dawn, and the 
shadows flee away ? Jesus, if Thou come not in person 
to thy waiting Church this day, yet come in Spirit to my 
sighing heart, and make it sing for joy. 

" Now all the earth is bright and glad 

With the fresh morn ; 
But all my heart is cold, and dark, and sad : 
Sun of the soul, let me behold thy dawn ! 

Come, Jesus, Lord, 
quickly come, according to Thy word." 



220 DAILY READINGS. August 7. 

" The upright love Thee." — Canticles i. 4. 

RELIEVERS love Jesus with a deeper affection than 
^ they dare to give to any other being. They would 
sooner lose father and mother than part with Christ. 
They hold all earthly comforts with a loose hand, but they 
carry Him fast locked in their bosoms. They voluntarily 
deny themselves for His sake, but they are not to be driven 
to deny Him. It is scant love which the fire of persecution 
can dry up ; the true believer's love is a deeper stream than 
this. Men have labored to divide the faithful from their 
Master, but their attempts have been fruitless in every age. 
Neither crowns of honor, nor frowns of anger, have untied 
this more than gordian knot. This is no every-day attach- 
ment which the world's power may at length dissolve. 
Neither man nor devil has found a key which opens this 
lock. Never has the craft of Satan been more at fault than 
when he has exercised it in seeking to rend in sunder this 
union of two divinely welded hearts. It is written, and 
nothing can blot out the sentence, " The upright love Thee." 
The intensity of the love of the upright, however, is not so 
much to be judged by what it appears as by what the upright 
long for. It is our daily lament that we cannot love enough. 
Would that our hearts were capable of holding more and 
reaching farther. Like Samuel Rutherford, we sigh and 
cry, "0 for as much love as would go round about the 
earth, and over heaven — yea, the heaven of heavens, and 
ten thousand worlds — that I might let all out upon fair, 
fair, only fair Christ " ! Alas ! our longest reach is but a 
span of love, and our affection is but as a drop of a bucket, 
compared with His deserts. Msasure our love by our inten- 
tions, and it is high indeed ; 'tis thus, we trust, our Lord 
doth judge of it. that we could give all the love in all 
hearts in one great mass, a gathering together of all loves 
to Him who is altogether lovely ! 




August 8. DAILY READINGS. 221 

" They weave the spider's web." — Isaiah lix. 5. 

)EE the spider's web, and behold in it a most sugges- 
tive picture of the hypocrite's religion. It is meant 
to catch his prey : the spider fattens himself on flies, 
and the Pharisee has his reward. Foolish persons are easily 
entrapped by the loud professions of pretenders, and even 
the more judicious cannot always escape. Philip baptized 
Simon Magus, whose guileful declaration of faith was so soon 
exploded by the stern rebuke of Peter. Custom, reputation, 
praise, advancement, and other flies, are the small game 
which hypocrites take in their nets. A spider's web is a 
marvel of skill : look at it, and admire the cunning hunter's 
wiles. Is not a deceiver's religion equally wonderful ? How 
does he make so barefaced a lie appear to be a truth ? How 
can he make his tinsel answer so well the purpose of gold ? 
A spider's web comes all from the creature's own bowels. The 
bee gathers her wax from flowers ; the spider sucks no flow- 
ers, and yet she spins out her material to any length. Even 
so hypocrites find their trust and hope within themselves ; 
their anchor was forged on their own anvil, and their cable 
twisted by their own hands. They lay their own foundation, 
and hew out the pillars of their own house, disdaining to be 
debtors to the sovereign grace of God. But a spider's web 
is very frail. It is curiously wrought, but not enduringly 
manufactured. It is no match for the servant's broom, or 
the traveller's staff. The hypocrite needs no battery of 
Armstrongs to blow his hope to pieces : a mere puff of wind 
will do it. Hypocritical cobwebs will soon come down when 
the besom of destruction begins its purifying work. Which 
reminds us of one more thought, viz., that such cobwebs are 
not to be endured in the Lord's house : He will see to it that 
they and those who spin them shall be destroyed forever. 
my soul, be thou resting on something better than a spi- 
der's web. Be the Lord Jesus thine eternal hiding-place. 
19* 




222 DAILY READINGS. August 9. 

" The city hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in 
it" — Revelation xxi. 23. 

BONDER, in the better world, the inhabitants are inde- 
pendent of all creature comforts. They have no need 
of raiment ; their white robes never wear out, neither 
shall they ever be defiled. They need no medicine 
to heal diseases, " for the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick." 
They need no sleep to recruit their frames — they rest not 
day nor night, but unweariedly praise Him in His temple. 
They need no social relationship to minister comfort, and 
whatever happiness they may derive from association with 
their fellows, is not essential to their bliss, for their Lord's 
society is enough for their largest desires. They need no 
teachers there ; they doubtless commune with one another 
concerning the things of God, but they do not require this by 
way of instruction ; they shall all be taught of the Lord. 
Ours are the alms at the king's gate, but they feast at the 
table itself. Here we lean upon the friendly arm, but there 
they lean upon their Beloved, and upon Him alone. Here 
we must have the help of our companions, but there they 
find all they want in Christ Jesus. Here we look to the meat 
which perisheth, and to the raiment which decays before the 
moth, but there they find everything in God. We use the 
bucket to fetch us water from the well, but there they drink 
from the fountain head, and put their lips down to the living 
water. Here the angels bring us blessings, but we shall want 
no messengers from heaven then. They shall need no Gabri- 
els there tp bring their love-notes from God, for there they 
shall see Him face to face. Oh, what a blessed time shall that 
be, when we shall have mounted above every second cause, 
and shall rest upon the bare arm of God ! What a glorious 
hour when God, and not His creatures, — the Lord, and not 
His works, — shall be our daily joy! Our souls shall then 
have attained the perfection of bliss. 




August 10. DAILY HEADINGS. 223 

" Christ, who is our life" — Colossians iii. 4. 

i^|ATJL'S marvellously rich expression indicates, that 
Christ is the source of our life. " You hath He 
quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins." 
That same voice which brought Lazarus out of the tomb, 
raised us to newness of life. He is now the substance of our 
spiritual life. It is by His life that we live ; He is in us, the 
hope of glory, the spring of our actions, the central thought 
which moves every other thought. Christ is the sustenance of 
our life. What can the Christian feed upon but Jesus' flesh 
and blood ? " This is the bread which cometh down from 
heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die." way- 
worn pilgrims in this wilderness of sin, you never get a mor- 
sel to satisfy the hunger of your spirits, except ye find it in 
Him ! Christ is the solace of our life. All our true joys come 
from Him ; and in times of trouble, His presence is our con- 
solation. There is nothing worth living for but Him ; and 
His loving-kindness is better than life ! Christ is the object 
of our life. As speeds the ship towards the port, so hastes 
the believer towards the haven of his Saviour's bosom. As 
flies the arrow to its goal, so flies the Christian towards the 
perfecting of his fellowship with Christ Jesus. As the sol- 
dier fights for his captain, and is crowned in his captain's 
victory, so the believer contends for Christ, and gets his tri- 
umph out of the triumphs of his Master. " For him to live 
is Christ." Christ is the exemplar of our life. Where there 
is the same life within, there will, there must be, to a great 
extent, the same developments without ; and if we live in near 
fellowship with the Lord Jesus, we shall grow like Him. 
We shall set Him before us as our Divine copy, and we shall 
seek to tread in His footsteps, until He shall become the 
crown of our life in glory. Oh ! how safe, how honored, how 
happy is the Christian, since Christ is our life ! 




224 DAILY READINGS. August 11. 

" that I were as in months past ! '" — Job xxix. 2. 

^UMBERS of Christians can view the past with pleas- 
ure, but regard the present with dissatisfaction ; 
they look back upon the days which they have passed 
in communing with the Lord, as being the sweetest and the 
best they have ever known ; but as to the present, it is clad 
in a sable garb of gloom and dreariness. Once they lived 
near to Jesus, but now they feel that they have wandered 
from Him, and they say, " that I were as in months past ! " 
They complain that they have lost their evidences, or that 
they have not present peace of mind, or that they have no 
enjoyment in the means of grace, or that conscience is not 
so tender, or that they have not so much zeal for God's glory. 
The causes of this mournful state of things are manifold. It 
may arise through a comparative neglect of prayer, for a 
neglected closet is the beginning of all spiritual decline. Or 
it may be the result of idolatry. The heart has been occupied 
with something else, more than with God ; the affections 
have been set on the things of earth, instead of the things of 
heaven. A jealous God will not be content with a divided 
heart ; He must be loved first and best. He will withdraw 
the sunshine of his presence from a cold, wandering heart. 
Or the cause may be found in self-confidence and self-right- 
eousness. Pride is busy in the heart, and self is exalted in- 
stead of lying low at the foot of the cross. Christian, if you 
are not now as you "were in months past/' do not rest sat- 
isfied with wishing for a return of former happiness, but go 
at once to seek your Maker, and tell Him your sad state. 
Ask His grace and strength to help you to walk more closely 
with Him ; humble yourself before Him, and He will lift you 
up, and give you yet again to enjoy the light of His coun- 
tenance. Do not sit down to sigh and lament; while the 
beloved Physician lives there is hope ; nay, there is a cer- 
tainty of recovery for the worst cases. 




AugUSt 12. DAILY READINGS. 225 

" The Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice." — Psalm xcvii. 1. 

^gAUSES for disquietude there are none so long as 
this blessed sentence is true. On earth the Lord's 
power as readily controls the rage of the wicked as 
the rage of the sea ; His love as easily refreshes the poor 
with mercy as the earth with showers. Majesty gleams in 
flashes of fire amid the tempest's horrors, and the glory of 
the Lord is seen in its grandeur in the fall of empires, and 
the crash of thrones. In all our conflicts and tribulations, 
we may behold the hand of the divine King. 

" God is God : He sees and hears 
All our troubles, all our tears. 
Soul, forget not, 'mid thy pains, 
God o'er all forever reigns." 

In hell, evil spirits own, with misery, His undoubted su- 
premacy. When permitted to roam abroad, it is with a chain 
at their heel ; the bit is in the mouth of behemoth, and the 
hook in the jaws of leviathan. Death's darts are under the 
Lord's lock, and the grave's prisons have divine power as 
their warder. The terrible vengeance of the Judge of all 
the earth makes fiends cower down and tremble, even as 
dogs in the kennel fear the hunter's whip. 

" Fear not death, nor Satan's thrusts, 
God defends who in Him trusts ; 
Soul, remember, in thy pains, 
God o'er all forever reigns." 

In heaven, none doubt the sovereignty of the King Eternal, 
but all fall on their faces to do Him homage. Angels are 
His courtiers, the redeemed His favorites, and all delight 
to serve Him day and night. May we soon reach the city 
of the great King. 

" For this life's long night of sadness 
He will give us peace and gladness. 
Soul, remember, in thy pains, 
God o'er all forever reigns." 



226 DAILY HEADINGS. August 13. 

" The cedars of Lebanon which He hath planted." — Psalm civ. 16. 

g^j^EBANON'S cedars are emblematic of the Christian, 
(Eli &p. in that they owe their planting entirely to the Lord. 
^^^ This is quite true of every child of God. He is not 
man-planted, nor self-planted, but God-planted. The mys- 
terious hand of the divine Spirit dropped the living seed into 
a heart which He had Himself prepared for its reception. 
Every true heir of heaven owns the great Husbandman as 
his planter. Moreover, the cedars of Lebanon are not de- 
pendent upon man for their watering ; they stand on the lofty 
rock, unmoistened by human irrigation ; and yet our heavenly 
Father supplieth them. Thus it is with the Christian who 
has learned to live by faith. He is independent of man, 
even in temporal things ; for his continued maintenance he 
looks to the Lord his God, and to Him alone. The dew of 
heaven is his portion, and the God of heaven is his fountain. 
Again, the cedars of Lebanon are not protected by any mortal 
power. They owe nothing to man for their preservation from 
stormy wind and tempest. They are God's trees, kept and 
preserved by Him, and by Him alone. It is precisely the 
same with the Christian. He is not a hot-house plant, shel- 
tered from temptation ; he stands in the most exposed posi- 
tion ; he has no shelter, no protection, except this, that the 
broad wings of the eternal God always cover the cedars which 
He Himself has planted. Like cedars, believers are full of 
sap, having vitality enough to be ever green, even amid 
winter's snows. Lastly, the flourishing and majestic condi- 
tion of the cedar is to the praise of God only. The Lord, 
even the Lord alone, hath been everything unto the cedars, 
and, therefore, David very sweetly puts it in one of the 
psalms, " Praise ye the Lord, fruitful trees and all cedars." 
In the believer there is nothing that can magnify man ; He 
is planted, nourished, and protected by the Lord's own hand, 
and to Him let all the glory be ascribed. 




AugUSt 14. DAILY READINGS. 227 

" Thou, Lord, hast made me glad through TJiy work" — Ps. xcii. 4. 

iO you believe that your sins are forgiven, and that 
Christ has made a full atonement for them ? Then 
what a joyful Christian you ought to be ! How you 
should live above the common trials and troubles of the 
world ! Since sin is forgiven, can it matter what happens to 
you now ? Luther said, " Smite, Lord, smite, for my sin is 
forgiven ; if Thou hast but forgiven me, smite as hard as 
Thou wilt;" and in a similar spirit you may say, "Send 
sickness, poverty, losses, crosses, persecution, what Thou 
wilt, Thou hast forgiven me, and my soul is glad. Christian, 
if thou art thus saved, whilst thou art glad, be grateful and 
loving. Cling to that cross which took thy sin away ; serve 
thou Him who served thee. " I beseech you, therefore, by 
the mercies of Grod, that ye present your bodies a living 
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto Grod, which is your reason- 
able service." Let not your zeal evaporate in some little 
ebullition of song. Show your love in expressive tokens. 
Love the brethren of Him who loved you. If there be a 
Mephibosheth anywhere who is lame or halt, help him for 
Jonathan's sake. If there be a poor tried believer, weep 
with him, and bear his cross for the sake of Him who wept 
for thee and carried thy sins. Since thou art thus forgiven 
freely for Christ's sake, go and tell to others the joyful news 
of pardoning mercy. Be not contented with this unspeakable 
blessing for thyself alone, but publish abroad the story of the 
cross. Holy gladness and holy boldness will make you a 
good preacher, and all the world will be a pulpit for you to 
preach in. Cheerful holiness is the most forcible of ser- 
mons, but the Lord must give it you. Seek it this morning 
before you go into the world. When it is the Lord's work 
in which we rejoice, we need not be afraid of being too 
glad. 




228 DAILY READINGS. August 15. 

"Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide" 
Genesis xxiv. 63. 

29EB.Y admirable was his occupation. If those who spend 
\M) so many hours in idle company, light reading, and 
^ useless pastimes, could learn wisdom, they would find 
more profitable society and more interesting engagements in 
meditation than in the vanities which now have such charms 
for them. We should all know more, live nearer to God, and 
grow in grace, if we were more alone. Meditation chews the 
cud and extracts the real nutriment from the mental food 
gathered elsewhere. When Jesus is the theme, meditation is 
sweet indeed. Isaac found Rebecca while engaged in private 
musings ; many others have found their best beloved there. 

Very admirable was the choice of place. In the field we 
have a study hung round with texts for thought. From the 
cedar to the hyssop, from the soaring eagle down to the chirp- 
ing grasshopper, from the blue expanse of heaven to a drop 
of dew, all things are full of teaching ; and when the eye is 
divinely opened, that teaching flashes upon the mind far more 
vividly than from written books. Our little rooms are neither 
so healthy, so suggestive, so agreeable, nor so inspiring as the 
fields. Let us count nothing common or unclean, but feel 
that all created things point to their Maker, and the field will 
at once be hallowed. 

Very admirable was the season. The season of sunset, as it 
draws a veil over the day, befits that repose of the soul when 
earth-born cares yield to the joys of heavenly communion. 
The glory of the setting sun excites our wonder, and the so- 
lemnity of approaching night awakens our awe. If the busi- 
ness of this day will permit it, it will be well, dear reader, if 
you can spare an hour to walk in the field at eventide ; but if 
not, the Lord is in the town, too, and will meet with thee in 
thy chamber or in the crowded street. Let thy heart go forth 
to meet Him. 




AugUSt 16. DAILY READINGS. 229 

" Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name." — Ps. xxix. 2. 

jJggOD'S glory is the result of His nature and acts. He 
is glorious in His character, for there is such a store 
of everything that is holy, and good, and lovely in 
God, that He must be glorious. The actions which flow from 
His character are also glorious ; but while He intends that 
they should manifest to His creatures His goodness, and mer- 
cy, and justice, He is equally concerned that the glory asso- 
ciated with them should be given only to Himself. Nor is 
there aught in ourselves in which we may glory ; for who 
maketh us to differ from another ? And what have we that 
we did not receive from the God of all grace ? Then how 
careful ought we to be to walk humbly before the Lord I The 
moment we glorify ourselves, since there is room for one glory 
only in the universe, we set ourselves up as rivals to the Most 
High. Shall the insect of an hour glorify itself against the 
sun which warmed it into life ? Shall the potsherd exalt itself 
above the man who fashioned it upon the wheel ? Shall the 
dust of the desert strive with the whirlwind ? or the drops 
of the ocean struggle with the tempest ? Give unto the Lord, 
all ye righteous, give unto the Lord glory and strength ; give 
unto Him the honor that is due unto His name. Yet it is, 
perhaps, one of the hardest struggles of the Christian life to 
learn this sentence — " Not unto us, not unto us, but unto 
Thy name be glory." It is a lesson which God is ever teach- 
ing us, and teaching us sometimes by most painful discipline. 
Let a Christian begin to boast, " I can do all things," with- 
out adding, " through Christ which strengtheneth me," and 
before long he will have to groan, " I can do nothing," and 
bemoan himself in the dust. When we do anything for the 
Lord, and He is pleased to accept of our doings, let us lay 
our crown at His feet, and exclaim, " Not I, but the grace 
of God which was with me ! " 
20 



230 DAILY READINGS. August 17. 

" The mercy of God." — Psalm Hi. 8. 




gEDITATE a little on this mercy of the Lord. It is 
tender mercy. With gentle, loving touch, He healeth 
the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. 
He is as gracious in the manner of His* mercy as in the matter 
of it. It is great mercy. There is nothing little in God ; His 
mercy is like Himself — it is infinite. You cannot measure 
it. His mercy is so great that it forgives great sins to great 
sinners, after great lengths of time, and then gives great 
favors and great privileges, and raises us up to great enjoy- 
ments in the great heaven of the great God. It is undeserved 
mercy, as indeed all true mercy must be, for deserved mercy 
is only a misnomer for justice. There was no right on the 
sinner's part to the kind consideration of the Most High ; 
had the rebel been doomed at once to eternal fire, he would 
have richly merited the doom ; and if delivered from wrath, 
sovereign love alone has found a cause, for there was none 
in the sinner himself. It is rich mercy. Some things are 
great, but have little efficacy in them ; but this mercy is a 
cordial to your drooping spirits ; a golden ointment to your 
bleeding wounds ; a heavenly bandage to your broken bones ; 
a royal chariot for your weary feet ; a bosom of love for your 
trembling heart. It is manifold mercy. As Bunyan says, 
" All the flowers in God's garden are double." There is no 
single mercy. You may think you have but one mercy, but 
you shall find it to be a whole cluster of mercies. It is abound- 
ing mercy. Millions have received it ; yet far from its being 
exhausted, it is as fresh, as full, and as free as ever. It is 
unfailing mercy. It will never leave thee. If mercy be thy 
friend, mercy will be with thee in temptation to keep thee from 
yielding ; with thee in trouble, to prevent thee from sinking ; 
with thee living, to be the light and life of thy countenance ; 
and with thee dying, to be the joy of thy soul when earthly 
comfort is ebbing fast. 




AugUSt 18. DAILY READINGS. 231 

" Strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the Lord's house" 
Jeremiah li. 51. 

Jj^N this account the faces of the Lord's people were 
covered with shame, for it was a terrible thing that 

^ men should intrude into the Holy Place reserved for 
the priests alone. Everywhere about us we see like cause for 
sorrow. How many ungodly men are now educating with the 
view of entering into the ministry ! What a crying sin is that 
solemn lie by which our whole population is nominally com- 
prehended in a National Church ! How fearful it is that or- 
dinances should be pressed upon the unconverted, and that 
among the more enlightened churches of our land there should 
be such laxity of discipline. If the thousands who will read 
this portion shall all take this matter before the Lord Jesus 
this day, He will interfere and avert the evil which else will 
come upon His Church. To adulterate the Church is to pol- 
lute a well, to pour water upon fire, to sow a fertile field 
with stones. May we all have grace to maintain in our own 
proper way the purity of the Church, as being an assembly 
of believers, and not a nation, an unsaved community of 
unconverted men. 

Our zeal must, however, begin at home. Let us examine 
ourselves as to our right to eat at the Lord's table. Let us 
see to it that we have on our wedding garment, lest we our- 
selves be intruders in the Lord's sanctuaries. Many are 
called, but few are chosen ; the way is narrow, and the gate 
is strait. for grace to come to Jesus aright, with the faith 
of God's elect ! He who smote Uzzah for touch ingthe ark 
is very jealous of His two ordinances ; as a true believer I 
may approach them freely ; as an alien I must not touch 
them lest I die. Heart-searching is the duty of all who are 
baptized or come to the Lord's table. " Search me, Grod, 
and know my way ; try me, and know my heart." 



232 DAILY READINGS. August 19. 

" He shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord." — Micah v. 4. 

ip^gHRIST'S reign in His Church is that of a shepherd- 
WM king. He has supremacy, but it is the superiority 
-^ of a wise and tender shepherd over his needy and 
loving flock ; He commands and receives obedience, but it is 
the willing obedience of the well-cared-for sheep, rendered 
joyfully to their beloved Shepherd, whose voice they know 
so well. He rules by the force of love and the energy of 
goodness. — His reign is practical in its character. It is said, 
" He shall stand and feed." The great Head of the Church 
is actively engaged in providing for His people. He does 
not sit down upon the throne in empty state, or hold a scep- 
tre without wielding it in government. No ; He stands and 
feeds. The expression " feed," in the original, is like an 
analogous one in the Greek, which means to shepherdize, to 
do every thing expected of a shepherd ; to guide, to watch, to 
preserve, to restore, to tend, as well as to feed. — His reign 
is continual in its' duration. It is said, ll He shall stand and 
feed ; " not, " He shall feed now and then, and leave His 
position ; " not, " He shall one day grant a revival, and then 
next day leave His Church to barrenness." His eyes never 
slumber, and His hands never rest ; His heart never ceases 
to beat with love, and His shoulders are never weary of car- 
rying His people's burdens. — His reign is effectually power- 
ful in its action; "He shall feed in the strength of Jeho- 
vah." Wherever Christ is, there is God ; and whatever 
Christ does is the act of the Most High. Oh ! it is a joyful 
truth to consider that He who stands to-day representing 
the interests of His people is very God of very God, to 
whom every knee shall bow. Happy are we who belong to 
such a shepherd, whose humanity communes with us, and 
whose divinity protects us. Let us worship and bow down 
before Him as the people of His pasture. 




AugUSt 20. DAILY READINGS. 233 

" The sweet psalmist of Israel" — 2 Samuel xxiii. 1. 

MONO all the saints whose lives are recorded in Holy 
Writ, David possesses an experience of the most 
striking, varied, and instructive character. In his 
history, we meet with trials and temptations not to be dis- 
covered, as a whole, in other saints of ancient times, and 
hence he is all the more suggestive a type of our Lord. 
David knew the trials of all ranks and conditions of men. 
Kings have their troubles, and David wore a crown : the 
peasant has his cares, and David handled a shepherd's crook : 
the wanderer has many hardships, and David abode in the 
caves of Engedi : the captain has his difficulties, and David 
found the sons of Zeruiah too hard for him. The psalmist 
was also tried in his friends ; his counsellor Ahithophel for- 
sook him. " He that eateth bread with me, hath lifted up 
his heel against me." His worst foes were they of his own 
household : his children were his greatest affliction. The 
temptations of poverty and wealth, of honor and reproach, 
of health and weakness, all tried their power upon him. He 
had temptations from without to disturb his peace, and from 
within to mar his joy. David no sooner escaped from one 
trial than he fell into another ; no sooner emerged from one 
season of despondency and alarm, than he was again brought 
into the lowest depths, and all Glod's waves and billows rolled 
over him. It is probably from this cause that David's psalms 
are so universally the delight of experienced Christians. 
Whatever our frame of mind, whether ecstasy or depression, 
David has exactly described our emotions. He was an able 
master of the human heart, because he had been tutored in the 
best of all schools — the school of heart-felt, personal experi- 
ence. As we are instructed in the same school, as we grow ma- 
tured in grace and in years, we increasingly appreciate David's 
psalms, and find them to be " green pastures." My soul, let 
David's experience cheer and counsel thee this day. 
20* 




234 DAILY READINGS. August 21. 

" He that watereth shall be watered also himself." — Prov. xi. 25. 

!;E are here taught the great lesson, that to get, we 
|j must give ; that to accumulate, we must scatter ; 
that to make ourselves happy, we must make others 
happy; and that in order to become spiritually vigorous, 
we must seek the spiritual good of others. In watering 
others, we are ourselves watered. How ? Our efforts to be 
useful bring out our powers for usefulness. We have latent 
talents and dormant faculties, which are brought to light by 
exercise. Our strength for labor is hidden even from our- 
selves, until we venture forth to fight the Lord's battles, or 
to climb the mountains of difficulty. We do not know what 
tender sympathies we possess, until we try to dry the widow's 
tears, and soothe the orphan's grief. We often find, in at- 
tempting to teach others, that we gain instruction for our- 
selves. Oh, what gracious lessons some of us have learned at 
sick beds ! We went to teach the Scriptures ; we came away 
blushing that we knew so little of them. In our converse 
with poor saints, we are taught the way of God more per- 
fectly for ourselves, and get a deeper insight into divine 
truth. So that watering others makes us humble. We dis- 
cover how much grace there is where we had not looked for 
it, and how mucb the poor saint may outstrip us in knowl- 
edge. Our own comfort is also increased by our working for 
others. We endeavor to cheer them, and the consolation 
gladdens our own heart. Like the two men in the snow : 
one chafed the other's limbs to keep him from dying, and in 
so doing kept his own blood in circulation, and saved his 
own life. The poor widow of Sarepta gave from her scanty 
store a supply for the prophet's wants, and from that day 
she never again knew what want was. Give, then, and it 
shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, and 
running over. 



August 22. DAILY READINGS. 235 

" I charge you, dauyliters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that 
ye tell Him that I am sick of love." — Solomon's Song v. 8. 



If 



^UCH is the language of the believer panting after 
2j|J/ present fellowship with Jesus : he is side for his 
Lord. Gracious souls are never perfectly at ease 
except they are in a state of nearness to Christ ; for when 
they are away from Him they lose their peace. The nearer 
to Him, the nearer to the perfect calm of heaven ; the 
nearer to Him, the fuller the heart is, not only of peace, but 
of life, and vigor, and joy, for these all depend on constant 
intercourse with Jesus. What the sun is to the day, what 
the moon is to the night, what the dew is to the flower, such 
is Jesus Christ to us. What bread is to the hungry, cloth- 
ing to the naked, the shadow of a great rock to the traveller 
in a weary land, such is Jesus Christ to us ; and therefore, 
if we are not consciously one with Him, little marvel if our 
spirit cries in the word of the Song, " I charge you, ye 
daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, tell Him that 
I am sick of love." This earnest longing after Jesus has a 
blessing attending it : " Blessed are they that do hunger and 
thirst after righteousness ; " and therefore supremely blessed 
are they who thirst after the Righteous One. Blessed is 
that hunger, since it comes from Grod. If I may not have 
the full-blown blessedness of being filled, I would seek the 
same blessedness in its sweet bud-pining in emptiness and 
eagerness till I am filled with Christ. If I may not feed on 
Jesus, it shall be next door to heaven to hunger and thirst 
after Him. There is a hallowedness about that hunger, since 
it sparkles among the beatitudes of our Lord. But the 
blessing involves a promise. Such hungry ones "shall be 
filled " with what they are desiring. If Christ thus causes us 
to long after Himself, He will certainly satisfy those long- 
ings ; and when He does come to us, as come He will, oh, 
how sweet it will be I 




236 DAILY HEADINGS. August 23. 

" The voice of weeping shall be no more heard." — Isaiah lxv. 19. 

^HE glorified weep no more, for all outward causes of 
^•g grief are gone. There are no broken friendships, 
nor blighted prospects, in heaven. Poverty, famine, 
peril, persecution, and slander, are unknown there. No pain 
distresses, no thought of death or bereavement saddens. 
They weep no more, for they are 'perfectly sanctified. No 
"evil heart of unbelief" prompts them to depart from the 
living God ; they are without fault before His throne, and 
are fully conformed to His image. Well may they cease to 
mourn who have ceased to sin. They weep no more, be- 
cause all fear of change is past. They know that they are 
eternally secure. Sin is shut out, and they are shut in. They 
dwell within a city which shall never be stormed ; they bask 
in a sun which shall never set ; they drink of a river which 
shall never dry; they pluck fruit from a tree which shall 
never wither. Countless cycles may revolve, but eternity 
shall not be exhausted, and while eternity endures, their im- 
mortality and blessedness shall co-exist with it. They are 
forever with the Lord. They weep no more, because every 
desire is fulfilled. They cannot wish for anything which they 
have not in possession. Eye and ear, heart and hand, judg- 
ment, imagination, hope, desire, will, all the faculties, are 
completely satisfied ; and imperfect as our present ideas are 
of the things which God hath prepared for them that love 
Him, yet we know enough, by the revelation of the Spirit, 
that the saints above are supremely blessed. The joy of 
Christ, which is an infinite fulness of delight, is in them. 
They bathe themselves in the bottomless, shoreless sea of 
infinite beatitude. That same joyful rest remains for us. It 
may not be far distant. Ere long the weeping willow shall 
be exchanged for the palm-branch of victory, and sorrow's 
dewdrops will be transformed into the pearls of everlasting 
bliss. "Wherefore comfort one another with these words." 




AugUSt 24. DAILY HEADINGS. 237 

" The breaker is come up before them" — Micah ii. 13. 

INASMUCH as Jesus has gone before us, things re- 
(jft main not as they would have been had He never 
passed that way. He has conquered every foe that 
obstructed the way. Cheer up now, thou faint-hearted war- 
rior. Not only has Christ travelled the road, but He has 
slain thine enemies. Dost thou dread sin ? He has nailed 
it to His cross. Dost thou fear death ? He has been the 
death of Death. Art thou afraid of hell ? He has barred it 
against the advent of any of His children ; they shall never 
see the gulf of perdition. Whatever foes may be before the 
Christian, they are all overcome. There are lions, but their 
teeth are broken ; there are serpents, but their fangs are 
extracted ; there are rivers*, but they are bridged or fordable ; 
there are flames, but we wear that matchless garment which 
renders us invulnerable to fire. The sword that has been 
forged against us is already blunted ; the instruments of war 
which the enemy is preparing have already lost their point. 
Grod has taken away in the person of Christ all the power 
that anything can have to hurt us. Well then, the army may 
safely march on, and you may go joyously along your jour- 
ney, for all your enemies are conquered beforehand. What 
shall you do but march on to take the prey ? They are 
beaten ; they are vanquished ; all you have to do is to divide 
the spoil. You shall, it is true, often engage in combat ; 
but your fight shall be with a vanquished foe. His head is 
broken ; he may attempt to injure you, but his strength shall 
not be sufficient for his malicious design. Your victory shall 
be easy, and your treasure shall be beyond all count. 

" Proclaim aloud the Saviour's fame, 
"Who bears the Breaker 's wondrous name ; 
Sweet name ; and it becomes Him well, 
Who breaks down earth, sin, death, and hell." 




238 DAILY HEADINGS. August 25. 

" His fruit was sweet to my taste" — Canticles ii. 3. 

^^f^AITH, in the Scripture, is spoken of under the em- 
blem of all the senses. It is sight. "Look unto Me, 
and be ye saved." It is hearing. " Hear, and your soul 
shall live." Faith is smelling. " All thy garments 
smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia ; " " Thy name is oint- 
ment poured forth." Faith is spiritual touch. By this faith 
the woman came behind and touched the hem of Christ's 
garment, and by this we handle the things of the good word 
of life. Faith is equally the spirit's taste. "How sweet are 
Thy words to my taste ! jea, sweeter than honey to my lips." 
'* Except a man eat my flesh," saith Christ, " and drink my 
blood, there is no life in him." 

This " taste" is faith in one of its highest operations. One 
of the first performances of faith is hearing. We hear the 
voice of God, not with the outward ear alone, but with the 
inward ear ; we hear it as God's Word, and we believe it to 
be so ; that is the " hearing " of faith. Then our mind look- 
eth upon the truth as it is presented to us ; that is to say, we 
understand it ; we perceive its meaning ; that is the " seeing" 
of faith. Next we discover its preciousness ; we begin to 
admire it, and find how fragrant it is ; that is faith in its 
" smell." Then we appropriate the mercies which are pre- 
pared for us in Christ ; that is faith in its " touch." Hence 
follow the enjoyments, peace, delight, communion ; which 
are faith in its " taste." Any one of these acts of faith is 
saving. To hear Christ's voice as the sure voice of God in 
the soul will save us ; but that which gives true enjoyment 
is the aspect of faith wherein Christ, by holy taste, is received 
into us, and made, by inward and spiritual apprehension of 
His sweetness and preciousness, to be the food of our souls. 
It is then we sit " under His shadow with great delight," 
and find His fruit sweet to our taste. 




August 26. DAILY READINGS. 239 

" He hath commanded His covenant forever " — Psalm cxi. 9. 

^HE Lord's people delight in the covenant itself. It 
is an unfailing source of consolation to them so often 
as the Holy Spirit leads them into its banqueting- 
house, and waves its banner of love. They delight to con- 
template the antiquity of that covenant, remembering that 
before the day-star knew its place, or planets ran their round, 
the interests of the saints were made secure in Christ Jesus. 
It is peculiarly pleasing to them to remember the sureness of 
the covenant, while meditating upon " the sure mercies of 
David." They delight to celebrate it as " signed, and sealed, 
and ratified, in all things ordered well." It often makes 
their hearts dilate with joy to think of its immutability, as a 
covenant which neither time nor eternity, life nor death, 
shall ever be able to violate — a covenant as old as eternity, 
and as everlasting as the Rock of ages. They rejoice also 
to feast upon the fulness of this covenant, for they see in it 
all things provided for them. God is their portion, Christ 
their companion, the Spirit their Comforter, earth their lodge, 
and heaven their home. They see in it an inheritance re- 
served and entailed to every soul possessing an interest in 
its ancient and eternal deed of gift. Their eyes sparkled 
when they saw it as a treasure-trove in the Bible ; but, oh, 
how their souls were gladdened when they saw in the last 
will and testament of their divine kinsman, that it was be- 
queathed to them ! More especially it is the pleasure of Grod's 
people to contemplate the graciousness of this covenant. They 
see that the law was made void, because it was a covenant of 
works, and depended upon merit ; but this they perceive to 
be enduring, because grace is the basis, grace the condition, 
grace the strain, grace the bulwark, grace the foundation, 
grace the top-stone. The covenant is a treasury of wealth, 
a granary of food, a fountain of life, a storehouse of salva- 
tion, a charter of peace, and a haven of joy. 




240 DAILY HEADINGS. August 27. 

"How long will it be ere they believe Me?" — Numbers xiv. 11. 

^STRIVE, with all diligence, to keep out that monster un- 
jj^( belief. It so dishonors Christ, that He will withdraw 
His visible presence if we insult Him by indulging it. 
It is true it is a weed the seeds of which we can never en- 
tirely extract from the soil, but we must aim at its root with 
zeal and perseverance. Among hateful things it is the most 
to be abhorred. Its injurious nature is so venomous that he 
that exerciseth it, and he upon whom it is exercised, are both 
hurt thereby. In thy case, believer, it is most wicked, for 
the mercies of thy Lord in the past increase thy guilt in 
doubting Him now. When thou dost distrust the Lord Jesus, 
He may well cry out, " Behold I am pressed under you, as a 
cart is pressed that is full of sheaves." This is crowning His 
head with thorns of the sharpest kind. It is very cruel for a 
well-beloved wife to mistrust a kind and faithful husband. 
The sin is needless, foolish, and unwarranted. Jesus has 
never given the slightest ground for suspicion, and it is hard 
to be doubted by those to whom our conduct is uniformly af- 
fectionate and true. Jesus is the Son of the Highest, and 
has unbounded wealth ; it is shameful to doubt Omnipotence 
and distrust all-sufficiency. The cattle on a thousand hills 
will suffice for our most hungry feeding, and the granaries of 
heaven are not likely to be emptied by our eating. If Christ 
were only a cistern, we might soon exhaust His fulness ; but 
who can drain a fountain ? Myriads of spirits have drawn 
their supplies from Him, and not one of them has murmured 
at the scantiness of His resources. Away, then, with this 
lying traitor unbelief, for his only errand is to cut the bonds 
of communion and make us mourn an absent Saviour. Bun- 
yan tells us that unbelief has " as many lives as a cat ; " if so, 
let us kill one life now, and continue the work till the whole 
nine are gone. Down with thee, thou traitor; my heart 
abhors thee. 



AugUSt 28. DAILY READINGS. 241 

" Oil for the liglit." — Exodus xxv. 6. 



r 



lii 



Y soul, how much thou needest this! for thy lamp will 
SKKK not long continue to burn without it. Thy snuff will 
smoke and become an offence if light be gone, and 
gone it will be if oil be absent. Thou hast no oil well spring- 
ing up in thy human nature, and therefore thou must go to 
them that sell, and buy for thyself, or, like the foolish vir- 
gins, thou wilt have to cry, " My lamp is gone out." Even the 
consecrated lamps could not give light without oil ; though 
they shone in the tabernacle they needed to be fed, though 
no rough winds blew upon them they required to be trimmed, 
and thy need is equally as great. Under the most happy 
circumstances thou canst not give light for another hour 
unless fresh oil of grace be given thee. 

It was not every oil that might be used in the Lord's ser- 
vice ; neither the petroleum which exudes so plentifully from 
the earth, nor the produce of fishes, nor that extracted from 
nuts, would be accepted ; one oil only was selected* and that 
the best olive oil. Pretended grace from natural goodness, 
fancied grace from priestly hands, or imaginary grace from 
outward ceremonies, will never serve the true saint of God. 
He knows that the Lord would not be pleased with rivers of 
such oil. He goes to the olive-press of Gethsemane, and 
draws his supplies from Him who was crushed therein. The 
oil of gospel grace is pure and free from lees and dregs, and 
hence the light which is fed thereon is clear and bright. Our 
churches are the Saviour's golden candelabra, and if they 
are to be lights in this dark world, they must have much holy 
oil. Let us pray for ourselves, our ministers, and our 
churches, that they may never lack oil for the light. Truth, 
holiness, joy, knowledge, love, these are all beams of the 
sacred light ; but we cannot give them forth unless in private 
we receive oil from God the Holy Ghost. 
21 




242 DAILY READINGS. August 29. 

"Have mercy upon me, God" — Psalm li. 1. 

M^jHEN Dr. Carey was suffering from a dangerous ill- 
ness, the inquiry was made, "If this sickness should 
prove fatal, what passage would you select as the 
text for your funeral sermon ? " He replied, " 0, 1 feel that 
such a poor sinful creature is unworthy to have anything 
said about him ; but, if a funeral sermon must be preached, 
let it be from the words, ' Have mercy upon me, O God, 
according to Thy loving-kindness ; according unto the mul- 
titude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.' " 
In the same spirit of humility, he directed in his will that 
the following inscription, and nothing more, should be cut 
on his gravestone : — 

William Carey, Born August 17th, 1761; 
Died — . 

" A wretched, poor, and helpless worm, 
On Thy kind arms I fall." 

Only on the footing of free grace can the most experienced 
and most honored of the saints approach their God. The 
best of men are conscious, above all others, that they are 
men at the best. Empty boats float high, but heavily-laden 
vessels are low in the water ; mere professors can boast, but 
true children of God cry for mercy upon their unprofitable- 
ness. We have need that the Lord should have mercy upon 
our good works, our prayers, our preachings, our alms-giv- 
ings, and our holiest things. The blood was not only sprin- 
kled upon the door-posts of Israel's dwelling-houses, but 
upon the sanctuary, the mercy-seat, and the altar, because, 
as sin intrudes into our holiest things, the blood of Jesus is 
needed to purify them from defilement. If mercy be needed 
to be exercised towards our duties, what shall be said of our 
sins ? How sweet the remembrance that inexhaustible mercy 
is waiting to be gracious to us, to restore our backslidings, 
and make our broken bones rejoice! 




August 30. DAILY READINGS. 243 

" Wait on the Lord" — Psalm xxvii. 14. 

^T may seem an easy thing to wait, but it is one of the 
postures which a Christian soldier learns not without 
years of teaching. Marching, and quick-marching 
are much easier to (rod's warriors than standing still. There 
are hours of perplexity when the most willing spirit, anxiously 
desirous to serve the Lord, knows not what part to take. 
Then what shall it do ? Vex itself by despair ? Fly back 
in cowardice, turn to the right hand in fear, or rush forward 
in presumption ? No, but simply wait. Wait in prayer, 
however. Call upon God, and spread the case before Him ; 
tell Him your difficulty, and plead His promise of aid. In 
dilemmas between one duty and another, it is sweet to be 
humble as a child, and wait with simplicity of soul upon the 
Lord. It is sure to be well with us when we feel and know 
our own folly, and are heartily willing to be guided by the 
will of God. But wait in faith. Express your unstaggering 
confidence in Him ; for unfaithful, untrusting waiting is but 
an insult to the Lord. Believe that if He keep you tarrying 
even till midnight, yet He will come at the right time ; the 
vision shall come, and shall not tarry. Wait in quiet patience, 
not rebelling because you are under the affliction, but bless- 
ing your God for it. Never murmur against the second 
cause, as the" children of Israel did against Moses ; never 
wish you could go back to the world again, but accept the 
case as it is, and put it as it stands simply and with your whole 
heart, without any self-will, into the hand of your covenant 
God, saying, " Now, Lord, not my will, but Thine be done. 
I know not what to do ; I am brought to extremities ; but I 
will wait until Thou shalt cleave the floods, or drive back 
my foes. I will wait, if Thou keep me many a day, for my 
heart is fixed upon Thee alone, God, and my spirit waiteth 
for Thee in the full conviction that Thou wilt yet be my joy 
and my salvation, my refuge and my strong tower." 




>>] 



244 DAILY HEADINGS. AugUSt31. 

" On mine arm shall they trust." — Isaiah li. 5. 

N seasons of severe trial, the Christian has nothing 
on earth that he can trust to, and is therefore com- 
pelled to cast himself on his God alone. "When his 
vessel is on its beam-ends, and no human deliverance can 
avail, he must simply and entirely trust himself to the provi- 
dence and care of God. Happy storm that wrecks a man on 
such a rock as this ! blessed hurricane that drives the 
soul to God, and God alone ! There is no getting at our God 
sometimes because of the multitude of our friends ; but when 
a man is so poor, so friendless, so helpless, that he has no- 
where else to turn, he flies into his Father's arms, and is 
blessedly clasped therein ! When he is burdened with trou- 
bles, so pressing and so peculiar that he cannot tell them to 
any but his God, he may be thankful for them ; for he will 
learn more of his Lord then than at any other time. Oh, 
tempest-tossed believer, it is a happy trouble that drives thee 
to thy Father ! Now that thou hast only thy God to trust to, 
see that thou puttest thy full confidence in Him. Dishonor 
not thy Lord and Master by unworthy doubts and fears ; but 
be strong in faith, giving glory to God. Show the world that 
thy God is worth ten thousand worlds to thee. Show rich 
men how rich thou art in thy poverty when the Lord God is 
thy helper. Show the strong man how strong thou art in thy 
weakness when underneath thee are the everlasting arms. 
Now is the time for feats of faith and valiant exploits. Be 
strong and very courageous, and the Lord thy God shall cer- 
tainly, as surely as he built the heavens and the earth, glorify 
Himself in thy weakness, and magnify His might in the 
midst of thy distress. The grandeur of the arch of heaven 
would be spoiled if the sky were supported by a single visi- 
ble column, and your faith would lose its glory if it rested on 
anything discernible by the carnal eye. May the Holy Spirit 
give you to rest in Jesus this closing day of the month. 



Sept. 1. DAILY READINGS. 245 

" Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel, and afterward receive 
me to glory" — Psalm lxxiii. 24. 



71 y,-' 




HE Psalmist felt his need of divine guidance. He 
had just been discovering the foolishness of his own 
heart, and, lest he should be constantly led astray 
by it, he resolved that God's counsel should henceforth guide 
him. A sense of our own folly is a great step towards being 
wise when it leads us to rely on the wisdom of the Lord. 
The blind man leans on his friend's arm, and reaches home 
in safety ; and so would we give ourselves up implicitly to 
divine guidance, nothing doubting, assured that, though we 
cannot see, it is always safe to trust the All-seeing God. 
"Thou shalt" is a blessed expression of confidence. He 
was sure that the Lord would not decline the condescending 
task. There is a word for thee, O believer ; rest thou in it. 
Be assured that thy God will be thy counsellor and friend ; 
He shall guide thee ; He will direct all thy ways. In His 
written Word thou hast this assurance in part fulfilled, for 
holy Scripture is His counsel to thee. Happy are we to have 
God's Word always to guide us ! What were the mariner 
without his compass ? And what were the Christian without 
the Bible ? This is the unerring chart, the map in which 
every shoal is described, and all the channels, from the 
quicksands of destruction to the haven of salvation, mapped 
and marked by one who knows all the way. Blessed be 
Thou, God, that we may trust Thee to guide us now, and 
guide us even to the end ! After this guidance through life, 
the Psalmist anticipates a divine reception at last — "And 
afterward receive me to glory." What a thought for thee, 
believer! God Himself will receive thee to glory — thee! 
Wandering, erring, straying, yet He will bring thee safe at 
last to glory ! This is thy portion ; live on it this day, and, 
if perplexities should surround thee, go in the strength of 
this text straight to the throne. 
21* 



246 DAILY HEADINGS. Sept. 2. 

" But Simon's wife's mother lay sick of a fever, and anon they tell 
Him of her." — Mark i. 30. 

IggERY interesting is this little peep into the house of 
WV the Apostolic Fisherman. We see at once that house- 
^ hold joys and cares are no hinderance to the full ex- 
ercise of the ministry ; nay, that since they furnish an oppor- 
tunity for personally witnessing the Lord's gracious work 
upon one's own flesh and blood, they may even instruct the 
teacher better than any other earthly discipline. Papists 
and other sectaries may decry marriage, but true Christi- 
anity and household life agree well together. Peter's house 
was probably a poor fisherman's hut, but the Lord of Glory 
entered it, lodged in it, and wrought a miracle in it. Should 
our little book be read this morning in some very humble 
cottage, let this fact encourage the inmates to seek the com- 
pany of King Jesus. God is oftener in little huts than in 
rich palaces. Jesus is looking round your room now, and 
is waiting to be gracious to you. Into Simon's house sick- 
ness had entered, fever in a deadly form had prostrated his 
mother-in-law, and as soon as Jesus came they told Him of 
the sad affliction, and He hastened to the patient's bed. 
Have you any sickness in the house this morning ? You 
will find Jesus by far the best physician ; go to Him at once, 
and tell Him all about the matter. Immediately lay the case 
before Him. It concerns one of His people, and therefore 
will not be trivial to Him. Observe, that at once the Saviour 
restored the sick woman ; none can heal as He does. We 
may not make sure that the Lord will at once remove all 
disease from those we love, but we may know that believing 
prayer for the sick is far more likely to be followed by 
restoration than anything else in the world ; and where this 
avails not, we must meekly bow to His will by whom life and 
death are determined. The tender heart of Jesus waits to 
hear our griefs ; let us pour them into His patient ear. 



Sept. 3. DAILY READINGS. 247 

" Thou whom my soul loveth." — Canticles i. 7. 

#jjT is well to be able, without any "if" or "but," to 
^j say of the Lord Jesus — " Thou whom my soul loveth" 
Many can only say of Jesus that they hope they love 
Him ; they trust they love Him ; but only a poor and shallow 
experience will be content to stay here. No one ought to 
give any rest to his spirit till he feels quite sure about a 
matter of such vital importance.' We ought not to be satis- 
fied with a superficial hope that Jesus loves us, and with a 
bare trust that we love Him. The old saints did not gen- 
erally speak with " buts," and " ifs," and "hopes," and 
" trusts," but they spoke positively and plainly. " I know 
whom I have believed," saith Paul. " I know that my Re- 
deemer liveth," saith Job. Get positive knowledge of your 
love of Jesus, and be not satisfied till you can speak of your 
interest in Him as a reality, which you have made sure by 
having received the witness of the Holy Spirit, and His seal 
upon your soul by faith. 

True love to Christ is in every case the Holy Spirit's work, 
and must be wrought in the heart by Him. He is the effi- 
cient cause of it ; but the logical reason why we love Jesus 
lies in Himself. Why do we love Jesus ? Because He first 
loved us. Why do we love Jesus? Because He "gave 
Himself for us." We have life through His death ; we have 
peace through His blood. Though He was rich, yet for 
our sokes He became poor. Why do we love Jesus ? Be- 
cause of the excellency of His -person. We are filled with a 
sense of His beauty ! an admiration of His charms ! a con- 
sciousness of His infinite perfection ! His greatness, good- 
ness, and loveliness, in one resplendent ray, combine to 
enchant the soul till it is so ravished that it exclaims, " Yea, 
He is altogether lovely." Blessed love this — a love which 
binds the heart with chains more soft than silk, and yet more 
firm than adamant ! 




248 DAILY READINGS. Sept. 4. 

" I will ; be thou clean." — Mark i. 41. 

fJ^gRIMEVAL darkness heard the Almighty fiat, •' Light 
be," and straightway light was; and the Word of the 
Lord Jesus is equal in majesty to that ancient word 
of power. Redemption, like Creation, has its word of might. 
Jesus speaks and it is done. Leprosy yielded to no human 
remedies, but it fled at once at the Lord's " I will." The 
disease exhibited no hopeful signs or tokens of recovery ; 
nature contributed nothing to its own healing ; but the un- 
aided Word effected the entire work on the spot and forever. 
The sinner is in a plight more miserable than the leper ; let 
him imitate his example, and go to Jesus, " beseeching Him, 
and kneeling down to Him." Let him exercise what little 
faith he has, even though it should go no farther than, " Lord, 
if thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean ; " and there need be 
no doubt as to the result of the application. Jesus heals all 
who come, and casts out none. In reading the narrative in 
which our morning's text occurs, it is worthy of devout no- 
tice that Jesus touched the leper. This unclean person had 
broken through the regulations of the ceremonial law, and 
pressed into the house ; but Jesus, so far from chiding him, 
broke through the law Himself in order to meet him. He 
made an interchange with the leper, for while He cleansed 
him, He contracted by that touch a Levitical defilement. 
Even so Jesus Christ was made sin for us, although in Him- 
self He knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness 
of Grod in Him. that poor sinners would go to Jesus, be- 
lieving in the power of His blessed substitutionary work, and 
they would soon learn the power of His gracious touch. That 
hand which multiplied the loaves, which saved sinking Peter, 
which upholds afflicted saints, which crowns believers, that 
same hand will touch every seeking sinner, and in a moment 
make him clean. The love of Jesus is the source of salva- 
tion. He loves, He looks, He touches us, we live. 




Sept. 5. DAILY HEADINGS. 249 

* Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of 
Kedar ! " — Psalm cxx. 5. 

§j9 a Christian you have to live in the midst of an un- 
godly world, and it is of little use for you to cry, 
" Woe is me." Jesus did not pray that you should 
be taken out of the world, and what He did not pray for you 
need not desire. Better far in the Lord's strength to meet 
the difficulty, and glorify Him in it. The enemy is ever on 
the watch to detect inconsistency in your conduct ; be there- 
fore very holy. Remember that the eyes of all are upon you, 
and that more is expected from you than from other men. 
Strive to give no occasion for blame. Let your goodness be 
the only fault they can discover in you. Like Daniel, com- 
pel them to say of you, " We shall not find any occasion 
against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning 
the law of his God." Seek to be useful as well as consist- 
ent. Perhaps you think, " If I were in a more favorable 
position I might serve the Lord's cause, but I cannot do any 
good where I am;" but the worse the people are among 
whom you live, the more need have they of your exertions ; 
if they be crooked, the more necessity that you should set 
them straight ; and if they be perverse, the more need have 
you to turn their proud hearts to the truth. Where should 
the physician be but where there are many sick ? Where 
is honor to be won by the soldier but in the hottest fire of 
the battle ? And when weary of the strife and sin that meet 
you on every hand, consider that all the saints have endured 
the same trial. They were not carried on beds of down to 
heaven, and you must not expect to travel more easily than 
they. They had to hazard their lives unto the death in the 
high places of the field, and you will not be crowned till you 
also have endured hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 
Therefore, " stand fast in the faith ; quit you like men ; be 
strong." 




250 DAILY HEADINGS. Sept. 6. 

" In the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye 
shine as lights in the world" — Philippians ii. 15. 

use lights to make manifest. A Christian man 
should so shine in his life, that a person could not 
live with him a week without knowing the gos- 
pel. His conversation should be such that all who are about 
him should clearly perceive whose he is, and whom he serves ; 
and should see the image of Jesus reflected in his daily ac- 
tions. Lights are intended for guidance. We are to help 
those around us who are in the dark. We are to hold forth 
to them the Word of life. We are to point sinners to the 
Saviour, and the weary to a divine resting-place. Men 
sometimes read their Bibles, and fail to understand them ; 
we should be ready, like Philip, to instruct the inquirer in 
the meaning of Grod's Word, the way of salvation, and the 
life of godliness. Lights are also used for warning. On 
our rocks and shoals a lighthouse is sure to be erected. 
Christian men should know that there are many false lights 
shown everywhere in the world, and therefore the right light 
is needed. The wreckers of Satan are always abroad, tempt- 
ing the ungodly to sin under the name of pleasure : they 
hoist the wrong light ; be it ours to put up the true light upon 
every dangerous rock, to point out every sin, and tell what 
it leads to, that so we may be clear of the blood of all men, 
shining as lights in the world. Lights also have a very 
cheering influence, and so have Christians. A Christian 
ought to be a comforter, with kind words on his lips, and 
sympathy in his heart ; he should carry sunshine wherever 
he goes, and diffuse happiness around him. 

" Gracious Spirit, dwell with me ; 
I myself would gracious be, 
And with words that help and heal, 
Would Thy life in mine reveal, 
And with actions bold and meek, 
Would for Christ my Saviour speak." 



Sept. 7. DAILY HEADINGS. 251 

" And when they could not come nigh unto Him for- the press, they 
uncovered the roof where He was : and when they had broken it 
up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay" 
Mark ii. 4. 

^w^j^AITH is full of inventions. The house was full, a 
' crowd blocked up the door, but faith found a way of 
getting at the Lord and placing the palsied man be- 
fore Him. If we cannot get sinners where Jesus is by 
ordinary methods, we must use extraordinary ones. It seems, 
according to Luke v. 19, that a tiling had to be removed, 
which would make dust and cause a measure of danger to those 
below ; but where the case is very urgent, we must not mind 
running some risks and shocking some proprieties. Jesus 
was there to heal, and therefore fall what might, faith ven- 
tured all so that her poor paralyzed charge might have his 
sins forgiven. that we had more daring faith among us ! 
Cannot we, dear reader, seek it this morning for ourselves 
and for our fellow-workers, and will we not try to-day to 
perform some gallant act for the love of souls and the glory 
of the Lord. 

The world is constantly inventing ; genius serves all the 
purposes of human desire : cannot faith invent too, and reach 
by some new means the outcasts who lie perishing around us ? 
It was the presence of Jesus which excited victorious courage 
in the four bearers of the palsied man : is not the Lord among 
us now ? Have we seen His face for ourselves this morning ? 
Have we felt His healing power in our own souls ? If so, 
then through door, through window, or through roof, let us, 
breaking through all impediments, labor to bring poor souls 
to Jesus. All means are good and decorous when faith and 
love are truly set on winning souls. If hunger for bread can 
break through stone walls, surely hunger for souls is not to 
be hindered in its efforts. Lord, make us quick to suggest 
methods of reaching Thy poor sin-sick ones, and bold to 
carry them out at all hazards. 




252 daily headings. Sept. 8. 

" From Me is thy fruit found." — Hosea xiv. 8. 

f^^UR fruit is found from our God as to union. The 
fruit of the branch is directly traceable to the root. 
Sever the connection, the branch dies, and no fruit 
is produced. By virtue of our union with Christ we bring 
forth fruit. Every bunch of grapes has been first in the root ; 
it has passed through the stem, and flowed through the sap 
vessels, and fashioned itself externally into fruit ; but it was 
first in the stem : so also every good work was first in Christ, 
and then is brought forth in us. O Christian, prize this 
precious union to Christ ; for it must be the source of all the 
fruitfulness which thou canst hope to know. If thou wert 
not joined to Jesus Christ, thou wouldst be a barren bough 
indeed. 

Our fruit comes from God as to spiritual providence. 
When the dew-drops fall from heaven, when the cloud looks 
down from on high, and is about to distil its liquid treasure, 
when the bright sun swells the berries of the cluster, each 
heavenly boon may whisper to the tree and say, " From me 
is thy fruit found." The fruit owes much to the root — that 
is essential to fruitfulness — but it owes very much also to 
external influences. How much we owe to God's grace- 
providence ! in which He provides us constantly with quick- 
ening, teaching, consolation, strength, or whatever else we 
want. To this we owe our all of usefulness or virtue. 

Our fruit comes from God as to wise husbandry. The 
gardener's sharp-edged knife promotes the fruitfulness of the 
tree, by thinning the clusters, and by cutting off superfluous 
shoots. So is it, Christian, with that pruning which the Lord 
gives to thee. " My Father is the husbandman. Every branch 
in Me that beareth not fruit He taketh away ; and every branch 
that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it may bring forth more 
fruit." Since our God is the author of our spiritual graces, 
let us give to Him all the glory of our salvation. 



Sept. 9. DAILY HEADINGS. 253 

" I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which 
thou knowest not." — Jeremiah xxxiii. 3. 

o?HERE are different translations of these words. One 
I 




IS version renders it, " I will show thee great and 
fortified things ; " another, " great and reserved 
things." Now, there are reserved and special things in 
Christian experience : all the developments of spiritual life 
are not alike easy of attainment. There are the common 
frames and feelings of repentance, and faith, and joy, and 
hope, which are enjoyed by the entire family ; but there is 
an upper realm of rapture, of communion, and conscious 
union with Christ, which is far from being the common dwell- 
ing-place of believers. We have not all the high privilege 
of John, to lean upon Jesus' bosom ; nor of Paul, to be 
caught up into the third heaven. There are heights in ex- 
perimental knowledge of the things of God which the eagle's 
eye of acumen and philosophic thought hath never seen : 
God alone can bear us there ; but the chariot in which He 
takes us up, and the fiery steeds with which that chariot is 
dragged, are prevailing prayers. Prevailing praj 7 er is vic- 
torious over the God of mercy. " By his strength he had 
power with God : yea, he had power over the angel, and 
prevailed : he wept and made supplication unto Him ; he 
found Him in Beth-el, and there He spake with us." Pre- 
vailing prayer takes the Christian to Carmel, and enables him 
to cover heaven with clouds of blessing, and earth with floods 
of mercy. Prevailing prayer bears the Christian aloft to 
Pisgah, and shows him the inheritance reserved ; it elevates 
us to Tabor, and transfigures us, till in the likeness of his 
Lord, as he is, so are we also in this world. If you would 
reach to something higher than ordinary grovelling experi- 
ence, look to the Rock that is higher than you, and gaze with 
the eye of faith through the window of importunate prayer. 
When you open the window on your side, it will not be bolted 

on the other. 

22 




254 daily headings. Sept. 10. 

" And He goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto Him whom He 
would: and they came unto Him." — Mark iii. 13. 

|EKE was sovereignty. Impatient spirits may fret and 
| fume because they are not called to the highest 
places in the ministry ; but, reader, be it thine to re- 
joice that Jesus calleth whom He will. If He shall leave 
me to be a doorkeeper in His house, I will cheerfully bless 
Him for His grace in permitting me to do anything in His 
service. The call of Christ's servants comes from above. 
Jesus stands on the mountain, evermore above the world in 
holiness, earnestness, love, and power. Those whom He calls 
must go up the mountain to Him ; they must seek to rise to 
His level by living in constant communion with Him. They 
may not be able to mount to classic honors, or attain scho- 
lastic eminence, but they must like Moses go up into the 
mount of God, and have familiar intercourse with the unseen 
Grod, or they will never be fitted to proclaim the gospel of 
peace. Jesus went apart to hold high fellowship with the 
Father, and we must enter into the same divine companion- 
ship if we would bless our fellow-men. No wonder that the 
apostles were clothed with power when they came down fresh 
from the mountain where Jesus was. This morning we must 
endeavor to ascend the mount of communion, that there we 
may be ordained to the life-work for which we are set apart. 
Let us not see the face of man to-day till we have seen Jesus. 
Time spent with Him is laid out at blessed interest. We too 
shall cast out devils and work wonders if we go down into 
the world girded with that divine energy which Christ alone 
can give. It is of no use going to the Lord's battle till we 
are armed with heavenly weapons. We must see Jesus ; this 
is essential. At the mercy-seat we will linger till He shall 
manifest Himself unto us as He doth not unto the world, and 
until we can truthfully say, " We were with Him in the Holy 
Mount." 



Sept. 11. DAILY READINGS. 255 

" Be ye separate." — 2 Corinthians vi. 17. 
■gpHE Christian, while in the world, is not to he of the 




world. He should be distinguished from it in the 
great object of his life. To him, " to live," should be 
" Christ." Whether he eats, or drinks, or whatever he does, 
he should do all to God's glory. You may lay up treasure ; 
but lay it up in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth 
corrupt, where thieves break not through nor steal. You 
may strive to be rich ; but be it your ambition to be " rich 
in faith " and good works. You may have pleasure ; but 
when you are merry, sing psalms and make melody in your 
hearts to the Lord. In your spirit, as well as in your aim, 
you should differ from the world. Waiting humbly before 
God, always conscious of His presence, delighting in com- 
munion with Him, and seeking to know His will, you will 
prove that you are of heavenly race. And you should be 
separate from the world in your actions. If a thing be right, 
though you lose by it, it must be done ; if it be wrong, though 
you would gain by it, you must scorn the sin for your Master's 
sake. You must have no fellowship with the unfruitful works 
of darkness, but rather reprove them. Walk worthy of your 
high calling and dignity. Remember, Christian, that thou 
art a son of the King of kings. Therefore, keep thyself un- 
spotted from the world. Soil not the fingers which are soon 
to sweep celestial strings ; let not those eyes become the 
windows of lust which are soon to see the King in His beauty 
— let not those feet be defiled in miry places which are soon 
to walk the golden streets ; let not those hearts be filled with 
pride and bitterness which are ere long to be filled with 
heaven, and to overflow with ecstatic joy. 

Then rise, my soul ! and soar away, Up where eternal beauties bloom, 
Above the thoughtless crowd ; And pleasures all divine ; [sume, 

Above the pleasures of the gay, "Where wealth that never can con- 
And splendors of the proud; And endless glories shine. 




256 DAILY HEADINGS. Sept. 12. 

" God is jealous" — Nahum i. 2. 

^OIIR Lord is very jealous of your love, O believer. 
Did he choose you ? He cannot bear that you should 
choose another. Did He buy you with his own blood ? 
He cannot endure that you should think that you are 
your own, or that you belong to this world. He loved you with 
such a love that He would not stop in heaven without you ; He 
would sooner die than you should perish, and he cannot endure 
that anything should stand between your heart's love and Him- 
self. He is very jealous of your trust. He will not permit you 
to trust in an arm of flesh. He cannot bear that you should 
hew out broken cisterns, when the overflowing fountain is al- 
ways free to you. When we lean upon Him, He is glad ; but 
when we transfer our dependence to another, when we rely 
upon our own wisdom or the wisdom of a friend, worst of all, 
when we trust in any works of our own, He is displeased, and 
will chasten us that He may bring us to Himself. He is also 
very jealous of our company. There should be no one with 
whom we converse so much as with Jesus. To abide in Him 
only, this is true love ; but to commune with the world, to find 
sufficient solace in our carnal comforts, to prefer even the so- 
ciety of our fellow-Christians to secret intercourse with Him, 
this is grievous to our jealous Lord. He would fain have us 
abide in Him, and enjoy constant fellowship with Himself; 
and many of the trials which He sends us are for the purpose 
of weaning our hearts from the creature, and fixing them more 
closely upon Himself. Let this jealousy, which should keep 
us near to Christ, be also a comfort to us ; for if He loves us 
so much as to care thus about our love, we may be sure that 
He will suffer nothing to harm us, and will protect us from 
all our enemies. that we may have grace this day to keep 
our hearts in sacred chastity for our Beloved alone, with sacred 
jealousy shutting our eyes to all the fascinations of the world ! 



Sept. 13. DAILY HEADINGS. 257 

" Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well f the rain 
also filleth the pools" — Psalm lxxxiv. 6. 

■T^HIS teaches us that the comfort obtained by one may 
H| often prove serviceable to another ; just as wells 
would be used by the company who came after. We 
read some book full of consolation, which is like Jonathan's 
rod, dropping with honey. Ah ! we think our brother has 
been here before us, and digged this well for us as well as for 
himself. Many a " Night of Weeping," " Midnight Harmo- 
nies," an " Eternal Day," " A Crook in the Lot," a " Comfort 
for Mourners," has been a well digged by a pilgrim for him- 
self, but has proved quite as useful to others. Specially, we 
notice this in the Psalms, such as that beginning, " Why art 
thou cast down, my soul?" Travellers have been de- 
lighted to see the footprint of man on a barren shore, and 
we love to see the waymarks of pilgrims while passing through 
the vale of tears. 

The pilgrims dig the well, but, strange enough, it fills from 
the top instead of the bottom. We use the means, but the 
blessing does not spring from the means. We dig a well, 
but Heaven fills it with rain. The horse is prepared against 
the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord. The means are 
connected with the end, but they do not of themselves pro- 
duce it. See here the rain fills the pools, so that the wells 
become useful as reservoirs for the water ; labor is not lost, 
but yet it does not supersede divine help. 

Grace may well be compared to rain for its purity, for its 
refreshing and vivifying influence, for its coming alone from 
above, and for the sovereignty with which it is given or with- 
held. May our readers have showers of blessing, and may 
the wells they have digged be filled with water. Oh, what 
are means and ordinances without the smile of Heaven ! they 
are as clouds without rain, and pools without water. Grod of 
love, open the windows of heaven, and pour us out a blessing ! 
22* 



258 DAILY READINGS. Sept. 14. 

" There were also with Him other little ships." — Mark iv. 36. 

g)g|jP!SUS was the Lord High Admiral of the sea that 
fe J U night, and His presence preserved the whole convoy. 
(fi^pW) ft [ s we u i sa j:[ w ith Jesus, even though it be in a 
little ship. When we sail in Christ's company, we may not 
make sure of fair weather, for great storms may toss the ves- 
sel which carries the Lord Himself, and we must not expect 
to find the sea less boisterous around our little boat. If we 
go with Jesus we must be content to fare as He fares ; and 
when the waves are rough to Him, they will be rough to us. 
It is by tempest and tossing that we shall come to land, as 
He did before us. 

When the storm swept over Galilee's dark lake, all faces 
gathered blackness, and all hearts dreaded shipwreck. When 
all creature-help was useless, the slumbering Saviour arose, 
and with a word, transformed the riot of the tempest into the 
deep quiet of a calm ; then were the little vessels at rest, as 
well as that which carried the Lord. Jesus is the star of the 
sea ; and though there be sorrow upon the sea, when Jesus 
is on it there is joy too. May our hearts make Jesus their 
anchor, their rudder, their lighthouse, their lifeboat, and their 
harbor. His Church is the Admiral's flagship ; let us attend 
her movements, and cheer her officers with our presence. 
He Himself is the great attraction ; let us follow ever in His 
wake, mark His signals, steer by His chart, and never fear 
while He is within hail. Not one ship in the convoy shall 
suffer wreck ; the great Commodore will steer every bark 
in safety to the desired haven. By faith we will slip our 
cable for another day's cruise, and sail forth with Jesus into 
a sea of tribulation. Winds and waves will not spare us, but 
they all obey Him ; and, therefore, whatever squalls may oc- 
cur without, faith shall feel a blessed calm within. He is ever 
in the centre of the weather-beaten company; let us rejoice 
in Him. His vessel has reached the haven, and so shall ours. 



Sept. 15. DAILY READINGS. 259 

" He shall not be afraid of evil tidings" — Psalm cxii. 7. 

®^p^|HRISTIAN, you ought not to dread the arrival of 
[j^MSo evil tidings; because if you are distressed by them, 
^— "^ what do you more than other men ? Other men have 
not your God to fly to ; they have never proved His faithful- 
ness as you have done, and it is no wonder if they are 
bowed down with alarm and cowed with fear ; but you pro- 
fess to be of another spirit ; you have been begotten again 
unto a lively hope, and your heart lives in heaven, and not 
on earthly things ; now, if you are seen to be distracted as 
other men, what is the value of that grace which you profess 
to have received ? Where is the dignity of that new nature 
which you claim to possess ? 

Again, if you should be filled with alarm, as others are, 
you would, doubtless, be led into the sins so common to others 
under trying circumstances. The ungodly, when they are 
overtaken by evil tidings, rebel against God ; they murmur, 
and think that God deals hardly with them. Will you fall 
into that same sin ? Will you provoke the Lord as they do ? 

Moreover, unconverted men often run to wrong means in 
order to escape from difficulties, and you will be sure to do 
the same if your mind yields to the present pressure. Trust 
in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him. Your wisest course 
is to do as Moses did at the Red Sea — " stand still, and see 
the salvation of God." For if you give way to fear when 
you hear of evil tidings, you will be unable to meet the 
trouble with that calm composure which nerves for duty, and 
sustains under adversity. How can you glorify God if you 
play the coward ? Saints have often sung God's high praises 
in the fires, but will your doubting and desponding, as if 
you had none to help you, magnify the Most High ? Then 
take courage, and relying in sure confidence upon the faith- 
fulness of your covenant God, "let not your heart be 
troubled, neither let it be afraid." 



260 DAILY READINGS. Sept. 16. 

" Partakers of the divine nature." — 2 Peter i. 4. 

§|0 be a partaker of the divine nature is not, of course, 
to become God. That cannot be. The essence of 




Deity is not to be participated in by the creature. 
Between the creature and the Creator there must ever be a 
gulf fixed in respect of essence ; but as the first man Adam 
was made in the image of God, so we, by the renewal of the 
Holy Spirit, are in a yet diviner sense made in the image of 
the Most High, and are partakers of the divine nature. We 
are, by grace, made like God. " God is love ; " we become 
love — " He that loveth is born of God." God is truth ; we 
become true, and we love that which is true. God is good, 
and He makes us good by His grace, so that we become the 
pure in heart who shall see God. Moreover, we become 
partakers of the divine nature in even a higher sense than 
this — in fact, in as lofty a sense as can be conceived, short 
of our being absolutely divine. Do we not become members 
of the body of the divine person of Christ ? Yes, the same 
blood which flows in the head flows in the hand ; and the 
same life which quickens Christ quickens His people, for, 
" Ye. are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." 
Nay, as if this were not enough, we are married unto Christ. 
He hath betrothed us unto Himself in righteousness and in 
faithfulness, and he who is joined unto the Lord is one 
spirit. Oh, marvellous mystery ! we look into it, but who 
shall understand it ? One with Jesus — so one with Him 
that the branch is not more one with the vine than we are a 
part of the Lord, our Saviour and our Redeemer ! While we 
rejoice in this, let us remember that those who are made 
partakers of the divine nature will manifest their high and 
holy relationship in their intercourse with others, and make 
it evident, by their daily walk and conversation, that they 
have escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 
for more divine holiness of life ! 




Sept. 17. DAILY READINGS. 261 

" Bring him nnto Me" — Mark ix. 19. 

jESPAIRINGrLY the poor disappointed father turned 
t&M away from the disciples to their Master. His son 
was in the worst possible condition, and all means 
had failed ; but the miserable child was soon delivered from 
the evil one when the parent, in faith, obeyed the Lord Jesus' 
word, " Bring him unto Me." Children are a precious gift 
from Grod, but much anxiety comes with them. They may be 
a great joy or a great bitterness to their parents ; they may 
be filled with the Spirit of God, or possessed with the spirit 
of evil. In all cases, the Word of Grod gives us one receipt 
for the curing of all their ills, " Bring him unto Me." for 
more agonizing prayer on their behalf, while they are yet 
babes. Sin is there, let our prayers begin to atack it. Our 
cries for our offspring should precede those cries which be- 
token their actual advent into a world of sin. In the days 
of their youth we shall see sad tokens of that dumb and deaf 
spirit which will neither pray aright nor hear the voice of 
Grod in the soul ; but Jesus still commands, " Bring them unto 
Me." When they are grown up they may wallow in sin and 
foam with enmity against Grod ; then, when our hearts are 
breaking, we should remember the great Physician's words, 
** Bring them unto Me." Never must we cease to pray until 
they cease to breathe. No case is hopeless while Jesus lives. 
The Lord sometimes suffers His people to be driven into 
a corner that they may experimentally know how necessary 
He is to them. Ungodly children, when they show us our 
own powerlessness against the depravity of their hearts, 
drive us to flee to the Strong for strength ; and this is a great 
blessing to us. Whatever our morning's need may be, let it, 
like a strong current, bear us to the ocean of divine love. 
Jesus can soon remove our sorrow. He delights to comfort 
us. Let us hasten to Him while He waits to meet us. 




262 DAILY HEADINGS. Sept. 18. 

"If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." 
Galatians v. 25. 

gg^HE two most important things in our holy religion 
are the life of faith and the walk of faith. He who 
shall rightly understand these is not far from being 
a master in experimental theology, for they are vital points 
to a Christian. You will never find true faith unattended by 
true godliness ; on the other hand, you will never discover 
a truly holy life which has not for its root a living faith upon 
the righteousness of Christ. Woe unto those who seek after 
the one without the other ! There are some who cultivate 
faith and forget holiness ; these may be very high in ortho- 
doxy, but they shall be very deep in condemnation, for they 
hold the truth in unrighteousness ; and there are others who 
have strained after holiness of life, but have denied the faith, 
like the Pharisees of old, of whom the Master said, they 
were " whitewashed sepulchres." We must have faith, for 
this is the foundation ; we must have holiness of life, for this 
is the superstructure. Of what service is the mere founda- 
tion of a building to a man in the day of tempest ? Can he 
hide himself therein ? He wants a house to cover him, as 
well as a foundation for that house. Even so we need the 
superstructure of spiritual life if we would have comfort in 
the day of doubt. But seek not a holy life without faith, for 
that would be to erect a house which can afford no perma- 
nent shelter, because it has no foundation on a rock. Let 
faith and life be put together ; and, like the two abutments 
of an arch, they will make our piety enduring. Like light 
and heat streaming from the same sun, they are alike full of 
blessing. Like the two pillars of the temple, they are for 
glory and for beauty. They are two streams from the foun- 
tain of grace ; two lamps lit with holy fire ; two olive trees 
watered by heavenly care. Lord, give us this day life 
within, and it will reveal itself without to Thy glory. 



Sept. 19. DAILY HEADINGS. 263 

" The liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free." — Gal. v. i. 

^IS^HIS "liberty" makes us free to heaven's charter — 
j| the Bible. Here is a choice passage, believer : " When 
^ thou passest through the rivers I will be with thee." 
You are free to that. Here is another : ■* The mountains 
shall depart, and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall 
not depart from thee." You are free to that. You are a 
welcome guest at the table of the promises. Scripture is 
a never-failing treasury filled with boundless stores of grace. 
It is the bank of heaven ; you may draw from it as much as 
you please, without let or hinderance. Come in faith, and 
you are welcome to all covenant blessings. There is not a 
promise in the Word which shall be withheld. In the depths 
of tribulations, let this freedom comfort you ; amidst waves 
of distress, let it cheer you ; when sorrows surround thee, 
let it be thy solace. This is thy Father's love-token ; thou 
art free to it at- all times. Thou art also free to the throne 
of grace. It is the believer's privilege to have access at all 
times to His heavenly Father. Whatever our desires, our 
difficulties, our wants, we are at liberty to spread all before 
Him. It matters not how much we may have sinned, we 
may ask and expect pardon. It signifies nothing how poor 
we are, we may plead His promise that He will provide all 
things needful. We have permission to approach His throne 
at all times — in midnight's darkest hour, or in noontide's 
most burning heat. Exercise thy right, believer, and live 
up to thy privilege. Thou art free to all that is treasured 
up in Christ — wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and 
redemption. It matters not what thy need is, for there is 
fulness of supply in Christ, and it is there for thee. 0, what 
a " freedom " is thine ! freedom from condemnation, free- 
dom to the promises, freedom to the throne of grace, and at 
last freedom to enter heaven ! 




264 daily readings. Sept. 20. 

" The sword of the Lord and of Gideon" — Judges vii. 20. 

■gpDEON ordered his men to do two things : covering 
up a torch in an earthen pitcher, he bade them, at 
an appointed signal, break the pitcher, and let the 
light shine, and then sound with the trumpet, crying, " The 
sword of the Lord and of Gideon ! the sword of the Lord 
and of Gideon ! " This is precisely what all Christians must 
do. First, you must shine; break the pitcher which conceals 
your light ; throw aside the bushel which has been hiding 
your candle, and shine. Let your light shine before men ; 
let your good works be such, that, when men look upon you, 
they shall know that you have been with Jesus. Then there 
must be the sound, the blowing of the trumpet. There must 
be active exertions for the ingathering of sinners by pro- 
claiming Christ crucified. Take the gospel to them ; carry 
it to their door ; put it in their way ; do not suffer them to 
escape it ; blow the trumpet right against their ears. Re- 
member, that the true war-cry of the Church is Gideon's 
watchword, '■''The sword of the Lord and of Gideon ! " God 
must do it ; it is His own work. But we are not to be idle ; 
instrumentality is to be used — "The sword of the Lord and 
of Gideon ! " If we only cry, " The sword of the Lord ! " 
we shall be guilty of an idle presumption ; and if we shout, 
44 The sword of Gideon ! " alone, we shall manifest idolatrous 
reliance on an arm of flesh : we must blend the two in prac- 
tical harmony, — ** The sword of the Lord and of Gideon ! " 
We can do nothing of ourselves, but we can do everything 
by the help of our God ; let us, therefore, in His name de- 
termine to go out personally, and serve with our flaming 
torch of holy example, and with our trumpet tones of earnest 
declaration and testimony, and God shall be with us, and 
Midian shall be put to confusion, and the Lord of hosts shall 
reign forever and ever. 



Sept. 21. DAILY HEADINGS. 265 

" I will rejoice over them to do them good." — Jer. xxxii. 41. 
^OW heart-cheering to the believer is the delight which 




jjj God has in His saints ! We cannot see any reason 
in ourselves why the Lord should take pleasure in 
us ; we cannot take delight in ourselves, for we often have 
to groan, being burdened, conscious of our sinfulness, and 
deploring our unfaithfulness ; and we fear that God's people 
cannot take much delight in us, for they must perceive so 
much of our imperfections and follies, that they may rather 
lament our infirmities than admire our graces. But we love 
to dwell upon this transcendent truth, this glorious mystery: 
that as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so does the 
Lord rejoice over us. We do not read anywhere that God 
delighteth in the cloud-capped mountains, or the sparkling 
stars, but we do read that He delighteth in the habitable 
parts of the earth, and that His delights are with the sons 
of men. We do not find it written that even angels give 
His soul delight; nor doth He say, concerning cherubim 
and seraphim, " Thou shalt be called Hephzibah, for the 
Lord delighteth in thee ; " but He does say all that to poor 
fallen creatures like ourselves, debased and depraved by sin, 
but saved, exalted, and glorified by His grace. In what 
strong language He expresses His delight in His people ! 
Who could have conceived of the eternal One as bursting 
forth into a song? Yet it is written, " He will rejoice over 
thee with joy ; He will rest in His love ; He will joy over 
thee with singing." As He looked upon the world He had 
made, He said, " It is very good ; " but when He beheld 
those who are the purchase of Jesus' blood, His own chosen 
ones, it seemed as if the great heart of the Infinite could re- 
strain itself no longer, but overflowed in divine exclamations 
of joy. Should not we utter our grateful response to such a 
marvellous declaration of His love, and sing, " I will rejoice 
in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation " ? 
23 



i-J 



266 DAILY HEADINGS. Sept. 22. 

" Let Israel rejoice in Him." — Psalm cxlix. 2. 

l£^E glad of heart, believer ; but take care that thy 
gladness has its spring in the Lord. Thou hast much 
cause for gladness in thy God, for thou canst sing 
with David, " God, my exceeding joy." Be glad that the 
Lord reigneth, that Jehovah is King ! Rejoice that He sits 
upon the throne, and ruleth all things ! Every attribute of 
God should become a fresh ray in the sunlight of our glad- 
ness. That He is wise, should make us glad, knowing as we 
do our own foolishness. That he is mighty, should cause us 
to rejoice, who tremble at our weakness. That He is ever- 
lasting, should always be a theme of joy when we know that 
ive wither as the grass. That He is unchanging, should per- 
petually yield us a song, since we change every hour. That 
He is full of grace, that He is overflowing with it, and that 
this grace in covenant He has given to us ; that it is ours to 
cleanse us, ours to keep us, ours to sanctify us, ours to per- 
fect us, ours to bring us to glory — all this should tend to 
make us glad in Him. This gladness in God is as a deep 
river ; we have only as yet touched its brink ; we know a 
little of its clear, sweet, heavenly streams, but onward, the 
depth is greater, and the current more impetuous in its joy. 
The Christian feels that he may delight himself not only in 
what God is, but also in all that God has done in the past. 
The Psalms show us that God's people in olden times were 
wont to think much of God's actions, and to have a song 
concerning each of them. So let God's people now rehearse 
the deeds of the Lord ! Let them tell of His mighty acts, 
and " sing unto the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously." 
Nor let them ever cease to sing, for as new mercies flow to 
them day by day, so should their gladness in the Lord's 
loving acts in providence and in grace show itself in con- 
tinued thanksgiving. Be glad, ye children of Zion, and 
rejoice in the Lord your God. 



Sept. 23. DAILY READINGS. 267 

"Accepted in the beloved." — Ephesians i. 6. 

$*jJ^^jHAT a state of privilege ! It includes our justified- 
Wmfm tion before God ; but the term " acceptance," in the 
^*^6 Greek, means more than that. It signifies that we 
are the objects of divine complacency, nay, even of divine 
delight. How marvellous that we, worms, mortals, sinners, 
should be the objects of divine love ! But it is only " in the 
heloved.^ Some Christians seem to be accepted in their own 
experience; at least, that is their apprehension. When their 
spirit is lively, and their hopes bright, they think God ac- 
cepts them, for they feel so high, so heavenly-minded, so 
drawn above the earth ! But when their souls cleave to the 
dust, they are the victims of the fear that they are no longer 
accepted. If they could but see that all their high joys do 
not exalt them, and all their low despondencies do not really 
depress them in their Father's sight, but that they stand 
accepted in One who never alters, in One who is always the 
beloved of God, always perfect, always without spot or wrin- 
kle, or any such thing, how much happier they would be, 
and how much more they would honor the Saviour ! Rejoice 
then, believer, in this : thou art accepted " in the beloved." 
Thou lookest within, and thou sayest, " There is nothing 
acceptable here 1 " But look at Christ, and see if there is 
not everything acceptable there. Thy sins trouble thee ; but 
God has cast thy sins behind His back, and thou art accepted 
in the Righteous One. Thou hast to fight with corruption, 
and to wrestle with temptation, but thou art already accepted 
in Him who has overcome the powers of evil. The devil 
tempts thee ; be of good cheer, he cannot destroy thee, for 
thou art accepted in Him who has broken Satan's head. 
Know by full assurance thy glorious standing. Even glori- 
fied souls are not more accepted than thou art. They are 
only accepted in heaven " in the beloved," and thou art even 
now accepted in Christ after the same manner. 




268 daily readings. Sept. 24. 

" For I was ashamed to require of the king a bcmd of soldiers and 
horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way ; because we 
had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon 
all them for good that seek Him ; but His power and His wrath 
is against all them that forsake Him." — Ezra viii. 22. 

ffi CONVOY on many accounts would have been desira- 
ble for the pilgrim band, but a holy shame-facedness 
would not allow Ezra to seek one. He feared lest 
the heathen king should think his professions of faith in God 
to be mere hypocrisy, or imagine that the God of Israel was 
not able to preserve His own worshippers. He could not 
bring his mind to lean on an arm of flesh in a matter so evi- 
dently of the Lord, and therefore the caravan set out with no 
visible protection, guarded by Him who is the sword and 
shield of His people. It is to be feared that few believers 
feel this holy jealousy for God ; even those who in a measure 
walk by faith, occasionally mar the lustre of their life by 
craving aid from man. It is a most blessed thing to have 
no props and no buttresses, but to stand upright on the Rock 
of Ages, upheld by the Lord alone. Would any believers 
seek state-endowments for their Church, if they remembered 
that the Lord is dishonored by their asking Caesar's aid ? as 
if the Lord could not supply the needs of His own cause ! 
Should we run so hastily to friends and relations for assist- 
ance, if we remembered that the Lord is magnified by our 
implicit reliance upon His solitary arm ? My soul, wait thou 
only upon God. "But," says one, "are not means to be 
used ? " Assuredly they are ; but our fault seldom lies in 
their neglect : far more frequently it springs out of foolishly 
believing in them, instead of believing in God. Few run too 
far in neglecting the creature's arm ; but very many sin 
greatly in making too much of it. Learn, dear reader, to 
glorify the Lord by leaving no means untried, if by using 
them thou wouldst not dishonor the name of the Lord. 



Sept. 25. DAILY READINGS. 269 

" Just, and the justifier of Mm wliicli believeth" — Romans iii. 26. 

©&EING- justified by faith, we have peace with God. 

^ Conscience accuses no longer. Judgment now de- 
cides for the sinner instead of against him. Memory- 
looks back upon past sins, with deep sorrow for the sin, but 
yet with no dread of any penalty to come ; for Christ has 
paid the debt of His people to the last jot and tittle, and re- 
ceived the divine receipt ; and unless God can be so unjust 
as to demand double payment for one debt, no soul for whom 
Jesus died as a substitute can ever be sent into hell. It 
seems to be one of the very principles of our enlightened 
nature to believe that God is just ; we feel that it must be 
so, and this gives us our terror at first ; but is it not marvel- 
lous that this very same belief that God is just, becomes 
afterwards the pillar of our confidence and peace ! If God 
be just, I, a sinner, alone and without a substitute, must be 
punished ; but Jesus stands in my stead, and is punished for 
me ; and now, if God be just, I, a sinner, standing in Christ, 
can never be punished. God must change his nature before 
one soul, for whom Jesus was a substitute, can ever by any 
possibility suffer the lash of the law. Therefore, Jesus hav- 
ing taken the place of the believer, having rendered a full 
equivalent to divine wrath for all that His people ought to 
have suffered as the result of sin, the believer can shout with 
glorious triumph, " Who shall lay anything to the charge of 
God's elect : " Not God, for He hath justified ; not Christ, 
for He hath died, " yea, rather, hath risen again." My hope 
lives, not because I am not a sinner, but because I am a sin- 
ner for whom Christ died ; my trust is not that I am holy, 
but that, being unholy, He is my righteousness. My faith 
rests not upon what I am, or shall be, or feel, or know, but 
in what Christ is, in what He has done, and in what He is 
now doing for me. On the lion of justice the fair maid of 
hope rides like a queen. 
23 * 




270 DAILY READINGS. Sept. 26. 

" The myrtle trees that were in the bottom." — Zechariah i. 8. 

■■fjHE vision in this chapter describes the condition of 
fl| Israel in Zechariah's day ; but being interpreted in 
its aspect towards us, it describes the Church of God 
as we find it now in the world. The Church is compared to 
a myrtle grove flourishing in a valley. It is hidden, unob- 
served, secreted ; courting no honor and attracting no obser- 
vation from the careless gazer. The Church, like her Head, 
has a glory, but it is concealed from carnal eyes, for the time 
of her breaking forth in all her splendor is not yet come. 
The idea of tranquil security is also suggested to us ; for the 
myrtle grove in the valley is still and calm, while the storm 
sweeps over the mountain summits. Tempests spend their 
force upon the craggy peaks of the Alps, but down yonder, 
where flows the stream which maketh glad the city of our 
God, the myrtles flourish by the still waters, all unshaken by 
the impetuous wind. How great is the inward tranquillity 
of God's Church ! -Even when opposed and persecuted, she 
has a peace which the world gives not, and which, therefore, 
it cannot take away : the peace of God which passeth all 
understanding keeps the hearts and minds of God's people. 
Does not the metaphor forcibly picture the peaceful, per- 
petual growth of the saints ? The myrtle sheds not her 
leaves ; she is always green ; and the Church, in her worst 
time, still hath a blessed verdure of grace about her ; nay, 
she has sometimes exhibited most verdure when her winter 
has been sharpest. She has prospered most when her ad- 
versities have been most severe. Hence the text hints at 
victory. The myrtle is the emblem of peace, and a signifi- 
cant token of triumph. The brows of conquerors were bound 
with myrtle and with laurel ; and is not the Church ever vic- 
torious ? Is not every Christian more than a conqueror 
through Him that loved him ? Living in peace, do not the 
saints fall asleep in the arms of victory ? 




Sept. 27. DAILY HEADINGS. 271 

"Happy art thou, Israel; who is like unto thee, people saved 
by the Lord ? " — Deuteronomy xxxiii. 29. 

pE who affirms that Christianity makes men miserable, 
is himself an utter stranger to it. It were strange 
indeed if it made us wretched ; for see to what a po- 
sition it exalts us ! It makes us sons of God. Suppose you 
that God will give all the happiness to His enemies, and re- 
serve all the mourning for His own family ? Shall His foes 
have mirth and joy, and shall His home-born children inherit 
sorrow and wretchedness ? Shall the sinner, who has no part 
in Christ, call himself rich in happiness, and shall we go 
mourning as if we were penniless beggars ? No, we will re- 
joice in the Lord always, and glory in our inheritance, for we 
" have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear ; but 
we have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, 
Abba, Father." The rod of chastisement must rest upon us 
in our measure, but it worketh for us the comfortable fruits 
of righteousness; and therefore, by the aid of the divine Com- 
forter, we, the " people saved of the Lord," will joy in the 
God of our salvation. We are married unto Christ ; and shall 
our great Bridegroom permit His spouse to linger in constant 
grief ? Our hearts ar.e knit unto Him ; we are His members ; 
and though for a while we may suffer as our Head once suf- 
fered, yet we are even now blessed with heavenly blessings 
in Him. We have the earnest of our inheritance in the com- 
forts of the Spirit, which are neither few nor small. Her- 
itors of joy forever, we have foretastes of our portion. There 
are streaks of the light of joy to herald our eternal sunrising. 
Our riches are beyond the sea ; our city with firm foundations 
lies on the other side the river ; gleams of glory from the 
spirit-world cheer our hearts, and urge us onward. Truly is 
it said of us, " Happy art thou, Israel ; who is like unto 
thee, O people saved by the Lord ? " 




272 daily headings. Sept. 28. 

" The Lord loolceth from heaven; Ee beholdeih all the sons of men." 
Psalm xxxiii. 13. 

j^fERHAPS no figure of speech represents God in a 
more gracious light than when He is spoken of as 
stooping from His throne, and coming down from 
heaven to attend to the wants and to behold the woes of man- 
kind. We love Him, who, when Sodom and Gomorrah were 
full of iniquity, would not destroy those cities until He had 
made a personal visitation of them. We cannot help pour- 
ing out our heart in affection for our Lord, who inclines his 
ear from the highest glory, and puts it to the lip of the dying 
sinner, whose failing heart longs after reconciliation. How 
can we but love Him, when we know that He numbers the 
very hairs of our heads, marks our path, and orders our ways ? 
Specially is this great truth brought near to our heart, when 
we recollect how attentive He is, not merely to the temporal 
interests of His creatures, but to their spiritual concerns. 
Though leagues of distance lie between the finite creature 
and the infinite Creator, yet there are links uniting both. 
When a tear is wept by thee, think not that God doth not 
behold ; for, " like as a father pitieth his children, so the 
Lord pitieth them that fear Him." Thy sigh is able to move 
the heart of Jehovah ; thy whisper can incline His ear unto 
thee ; thy prayer can stay His hand ; thy faith can move His 
arm. Think not that God sits on high taking no account of 
thee. Remember that however poor and needy thou art, yet 
the Lord thinketh upon thee. For the eyes of the Lord run 
to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong 
in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards Him. 

" Oh ! then repeat the truth that never tires ; 
No God is like the God my soul desires ; 
He at whose voice heaven trembles, even He, 
Great as He is, knows how to stoop to me." 




Sept. 29. DAILY HEADINGS. 273 

" Behold, if the leprosy have covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce 
him clean that hath the plague." — Leviticus xiii. 13. 

i$;^)TRANGE enough this regulation appears ; yet there 
was wisdom in it, for the throwing out of the disease 
proved that the constitution was sound. This morn- 
ing it may be well for us to see the typical teaching of so sin- 
gular a rule. We, too, are lepers, and may read the law of 
leper as applicable to ourselves. When a man sees himself 
to be altogether lost and ruined, covered all over with the 
defilement of sin, and no part free from pollution ; when he 
disclaims all righteousness of his own, and pleads guilty be- 
fore the Lord ; then is he clean through the blood of Jesus, 
and the grace of Grod. Hidden, unfelt, unconfessed iniquity 
is the true leprosy ; but when sin is seen and felt, it has re- 
ceived its death-blow, and the Lord looks with eyes of mercy 
upon the soul afflicted with it. Nothing is more deadly than 
self-righteousness, or more hopeful than contrition. We 
must confess that we are " nothing else but sin," for no con- 
fession short of this will be the whole truth ; and if the Holy 
Spirit be at work with us, convincing us of sin, there will be 
no difficulty about making such an acknowledgment — it will 
spring spontaneously from our lips. What comfort does the 
text afford to those under a deep sense of sin ! Sin mourned 
and confessed, however black and foul, shall never shut a 
man out from the Lord Jesus. Whosoever cometh unto Him, 
He will in no wise cast out. Though dishonest as the thief, 
though unchaste as the woman who was a sinner, though 
fierce as Saul of Tarsus, though cruel as Manasseh, though 
rebellious as the prodigal, the great heart of love will look 
upon the man who feels himself to have no soundness in him, 
and will pronounce him clean, when he trusts in Jesu,*7 cruci- 
fied. Come to Him, then, poor heavy-laden sinner, < 

" Come needy, come guilty, come loathsome and bare ; 
You can't come too filthy — come just as you are." 




274 DAILY READINGS. Sept. 30. 

" Sing forth the honor of His name, make His praise glorious" 
Psalm lxvi. 2. 

5T is not left to our own option whether we shall praise 
God or not. Praise is God's most righteous due, 
and every Christian, as the recipient of His grace, is 
bound to praise God from day to day. It is true we have no 
authoritative rubric for daily praise ; we have no command- 
ment prescribing certain hours of song and thanksgiving ; but 
the law written upon the heart teaches us that it is right to 
praise God ; and the unwritten mandate comes to us with as 
much force as if it had been recorded on the tables of stone, 
or handed to us from the top of thundering Sinai. Yes, it is 
the Christian's duty to praise God. It is not only a pleasur- 
able exercise, but it is the absolute obligation of his life. 
Think not, ye who are always mourning, that ye are guiltless 
in this respect, or imagine that ye can discharge your duty 
to your God without songs of praise. You are bound by the 
bonds of His love to bless His name so long as you live, and 
His praise should continually be in your mouth, for you are 
blessed in order that you may bless Him ; " this people have 
I formed for myself; they shall show forth my praise ; " and 
if you do not praise God, you are not bringing forth the fruit 
which He, as the Divine Husbandman, has a right to expect 
at your hands. Let not your harp then hang upon the wil- 
lows, but take it down, and strive, with a grateful heart, to 
bring forth its loudest music. Arise and chant His praise. 
With every morning's dawn, lift up your notes of thanksgiv- 
ing, and let every setting sun be followed with your song. 
Girdle the earth with your praises ; surround it with an at- 
mosphere of melody, and God Himself will hearken from 
heaven and accept your music. 

"E'en so I love Thee, and will love, 
And in Thy praise will sing, 
Because Thou art my loving God, 
And my redeeming King." 




Oct. 1. DAILY READINGS. 275 

" Pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, my 
beloved." — Canticles vii. 13. 

JHE spouse desires to give to Jesus all that she pro- 
duces. Our heart has " all manner of pleasant 
fruits," both " new and old," and they are laid up 
for our Beloved. At this rich autumnal season of fruit, let 
us survey our stores. We have new fruits. We desire to 
feel new life, new joy, new gratitude ; we wish to make new 
resolves, and carry them out by new labors ; our heart blos- 
soms with new prayers, and our soul is pledging herself to 
new efforts. But we have some old fruits too. There is 
our first love : a choice fruit that ! and Jesus delights in it. 
There is our first faith ; that simple faith by which, having 
nothing, we became possessors of all things. There is our 
joy when first we knew the Lord ; let us revive it. We have 
our old remembrances of the promises. How faithful has 
God been ! In sickness, how softly did He make our bed ! 
In deep waters, how placidly did He buoy us up ! In the 
flaming furnace, how graciously did He deliver us ! Old 
fruits, indeed ! we have many of them, for His mercies have 
been more than the hairs of our head. Old sins we must 
regret, but then we have had repentances which He has 
given us, by which we have wept our way to the cross, 
and learned the merit of His blood. We have fruits, this 
morning, both new and old ; but here is the point — they are 
all laid up for Jesus. Truly, those ate the best and most 
acceptable services in which Jesus is the solitary aim of tlje 
60ul, and His glory, without any admixture whatever, the 
end of all our efforts. Let our many fruits be laid up only 
for our Beloved ; let us display them when He is with us, 
and not hold them up before the gaze of men. Jesus, we 
will turn the key in our garden-door, and none shall enter 
to rob Thee of one good fruit from the soil which Thou hast 
watered with Thy bloody sweat. Our all shall be Thine, 
Thine only, Jesus, our Beloved! 




276 DAILY READINGS. Oct. 2. 

" The hope which is laid up for you in heaven." — Col. i. 5. 

5&SUU hope in Christ for the future is the mainspring 
g, and the mainstay of our joy here. It will animate 

^ our hearts to think often of heaven, for all that we 
can desire is promised there. Here we are weary and toil- 
worn, but yonder is the land of rest, where the sweat of labor 
shall no more bedew the worker's brow, and fatigue shall be 
forever banished. To those who are weary and spent, the 
word "rest" is full of heaven. We are always in the field 
of battle ; we are so tempted within, and so molested by foes 
without, that we have little or no peace ; but in heaven we 
shall enjoy the victory, when the banner shall be waved aloft 
in triumph, and the sword shall be sheathed, and we shall 
hear our Captain say, " Well done, good and faithful ser- 
vant." We have suffered bereavement after bereavement, 
but we are going to the land of the immortal, where graves 
are unknown things. Here sin is a constant grief to us, 
but there we shall be perfectly holy, for there shall by no 
means enter into that kingdom anything which defileth. 
Hemlock springs not up in the furrows of celestial fields. 
Oh ! is it not joy that you are not to be in banishment for- 
ever ? that you are not to dwell eternally in this wilderness, 
but shall soon inherit Canaan ? Nevertheless, let it never 
be said of us that we are dreaming about the future, and 
forgetting the present* let the future sanctify the present to 
highest uses. Through the Spirit of God, the hope of heaven 
is the most potent force for the product of virtue ; it is a 
fountain of joyous effort; it is the cornef-stone of cheerful 
holiness. The man who has this hope in him goes about 
his work with vigor, for the joy of the Lord is his strength. 
He fights against temptation with ardor, for the hope of the 
next world repels the fiery darts of the adversary. He can 
labor without present reward, for he looks for a reward in 
the world to come. 



Oct. 3. DAILY READINGS. 277 

I ; 

"Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for 
them who shall be heirs of salvation ?" — Heb. i. 14. 

^rjNGELS are the unseen attendants of the saints of 




God ; they bear us up in their hands, lest we dash 
our foot against a stone. Loyalty to their Lord leads 
them to take a deep interest in the children of His love ; 
they rejoice over the return of the prodigal to his father's 
house below, and they welcome the advent of the believer 
to the King's palace above. In olden times the sons of God 
were favored with their visible appearance, and at this day, 
although unseen by us, heaven is still opened, and the angels 
of God ascend and descend upon the Son of man, that they 
may visit the heirs of salvation. Seraphim still fly with live 
coals from off the altar to touch the lips of men greatly be- 
loved. ( If our eyes could be opened, we should see horses 
of fire and chariots of fire about the servants of the Lord ; 
for we have come to an innumerable company of angels, who 
are all watchers and protectors of the seed-royal. Spenser's 
life is no poetic fiction, where he sings, — 

" How oft do they with golden pinions cleave 
The flitting skies, like flying pursuivant, 
Against foul fiends to aid us militant ! " 

To what dignity are the chosen elevated when the brilliant 
courtiers of heaven become their willing servitors ! Into 
what communion are we raised, since we have intercourse 
with spotless celestials ! How well are we defended, since 
all the twenty thousand chariots of God are armed for our 
deliverance ! To whom do we owe all this ? Let the Lord 
Jesus Christ be forever endeared to us, for through Him we 
are made to sit in heavenly places far above principalities 
and powers. He it is whose camp is round about them that 
fear Him ; He is the true Michael whose foot is upon the 
dragon. All hail, Jesus ! thou Angel of Jehovah's presence; 
to Thee this family offers its morning vows. 
24 




278 DAILY READINGS. Oct. 4. 

"At evening time it shall be light." — Zechariah xiv. 7. 

OFTENTIMES we look forward with forebodings to 
the time of old age, forgetful that at eventide it shall 
be light. To many saints, old age is the choicest 
season in their lives. A balmier air fans the mariner's cheek 
as he nears the shore of immortality, fewer waves ruffle his 
sea, quiet reigns, deep, still, and solemn. From the altar 
of age the flashes of the fire of youth are gone, but the more 
real flame of earnest feeling remains. The pilgrims have 
reached the land Beulah, that happy country whose days are 
as the days of heaven upon earth. Angels visit it, celestial 
gales blow over it, flowers of paradise grow in it, and the 
air is filled with seraphic music. Some dwell here for years, 
and others come to it but a few hours before their departure, 
but it is an Eden on earth. We may well long for the time 
when we shall recline in its shady groves, and be satisfied 
with hope until the time of fruition comes. The setting sun 
seems larger than when aloft in the sky, and a splendor of 
glory tinges all the clouds which surround his going down. 
Pain breaks not the calm of the sweet twilight of age, for 
strength made perfect in weakness bears up with patience 
under it all. Ripe fruits of choice experience are gathered 
as the rare repast of life's evening, and the soul prepares 
itself for rest. The Lord's people shall also enjoy light in 
the hour of death. Unbelief laments : the shadows fall, the 
night is coming, existence is ending. Ah, no, crieth faith, 
the night is far spent, the true day is at hand. Light is 
come, the light of immortality, the light of a Father's coun- 
tenance. Gather up thy feet in the bed, see the waiting 
band of spirits ! Angels waft thee away. Farewell, be- 
loved one ; thou art gone, thou wavest thine hand. Ah, 
now it is light. The pearly gates are open, the golden 
streets shine in the jasper light. We cover our eyes, but 
thou beholdest the unseen. Adieu, brother: thou hast light 
at eventide, such as we have not yet. 




Oct. 0. DAILY HEADINGS. 279 

u Ee arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that 
meat forty days and forty nights" — 1 Kings xix. 8. 

IfrjLL the strength supplied to us by our gracious God 
is meant for service, not for wantonness or boasting. 
When the prophet Elijah found the cake baked on 
the coals, and the cruse of water placed at his head, as he lay 
under the juniper tree, he was no gentleman to be gratified 
with dainty fare, that he might stretch himself at his ease ; far 
otherwise, he was commissioned to go forty days and forty 
nights in the strength of it, journeying towards Horeb, the 
mount of God. When the Master invited the disciples to 
" come and dine " with Him, after the feast was concluded 
He said to Peter, " Feed my sheep ; " further adding, " Fol- 
low me." Even thus it is with us : we eat the bread of heav- 
en, that we may expend our strength in the Master's service. 
We come to the passover, and eat of the paschal lamb with 
loins girt, and staff in hand, so as to start off at once when 
we have satisfied our hunger. Some Christians are for liv- 
ing on Christ, but are not so anxious to live for Christ. 
Earth should be a preparation for heaven ; and heaven is 
the place where saints feast most and work most. They sit 
down at the table of our Lord, and they serve Him day and 
night in His temple. They eat of heavenly food, and render 
perfect service. Believer, in the strength you daily gain 
from Christ, labor for Him. Some of us have yet to learn 
much concerning the design of our Lord in giving us His 
grace. We are not to retain the precious grains of truth as 
the Egyptian mummy held the wheat, for ages, without giving 
it an opportunity to grow: we must sow it and water it. Why 
does the Lord send down the rain upon the thirsty earth, and 
give the genial sunshine ? Is it not that these may all help 
the fruits of the earth to yield food for man ? Even so the 
Lord feeds and refreshes our souls, that we may afterwards 
use our renewed strength in the promotion of His glory. 



280 DAILY READINGS. Oct. 6. 

" Whosoever dririketh of the water that I shall give him shall never 
thirst" — John iv. 14. 




^E who is a believer in Jesus finds enough in his Lord 

i 



<VQ to satisfy him now, and to content him forevermore. 



The believer is not the man whose days are weary 
for want of comfort, and whose nights are long from absence 
of heart-cheering thought, for he finds in religion such a 
spring of joy, such a fountain of consolation, that he is con- 
tent and happy. Put him in a dungeon, and he will find good 
company ; place him in a barren wilderness, he will eat the 
bread of heaven ; drive him away from friendship, he will 
meet the " friend that sticketh closer than a brother.'" Blast 
all his gourds, and he will find shadow beneath the Rock of 
Ages ; sap the foundation of his earthly hopes, but his heart 
will still be fixed, trusting in the Lord. The heart is as in- 
satiable as the grave till Jesus enters it, and then it is a cup 
full to overflowing. There is such a fulness in Christ that 
He alone is the believer's all. The true saint is so com- 
pletely satisfied with the all-sufficiency of Jesus, that he thirsts 
no more, except it be for deeper draughts of the living foun- 
tain. In that sweet manner, believer, shalt thou thirst ; it 
shall not be the thirst of pain, but of loving desire ; thou 
wilt find it a sweet thing to be panting after a fuller enjoy- 
ment. of Jesus' love. One in days of yore said, " I have been 
sinking my bucket down into the well full often, but now my 
thirst after Jesus has become so insatiable, that I long to 
put the well itself to my lips, and drink right on." Is this 
the feeling of thine heart now, believer ? Dost thou feel that 
all thy desires are satisfied in Jesus, and that thou hast no 
want now but to know more of Him, and to have closer fel- 
lowship with Him ? Then come continually to the fountain, 
and take of the water of life freely. Jesus will never think 
you take too much, but will ever welcome you, saying, 
*' Drink, yea, drink abundantly, beloved." 



Oct. 7. DAILY READINGS. 281 

" Wherefore hast Thou afflicted Thy servant 1 ?" — -Numbers xi. 11. 

^UR heavenly Father sends us frequent troubles to try 
our faith. If our faith be worth anything, it will 

* /m stand the test. Gilt is afraid of fire, but gold is 
not ; the paste gem dreads to be touched by the diamond, 
but the true jewel fears no test. It is a poor faith which 
can only trust God when friends are true, the body full of 
health, and the business profitable ; but that is true faith 
which holds by the Lord's faithfulness when friends are gone, 
when the body is sick, when spirits are depressed, and the 
light of our Father's countenance is hidden. A faith which 
can say, in the direst trouble, " Though He slay me, yet will 
I trust in Him," is heaven-born faith. The Lord afflicts His 
servants to glorify Himself for He is greatly glorified in the 
graces of His people, which are His own handiwork. When 
" tribulation worketh patience ; and patience, experience ; 
and experience, hope," the Lord is honored by these grow- 
ing virtues. We should never know the music of the harp 
if the strings were left untouched ; nor enjoy the juice Of the 
grape if it were not trodden in the wine-press ; nor discover 
the sweet perfume of cinnamon if it were not pressed and 
beaten ; nor feel the warmth of fire if the coals were not 
utterly consumed. The wisdom and power of the great 
Workman are discovered by the trials through which His 
vessels of mercy are permitted to pass. Present afflictions 
tend also to heighten future joy. There must be shades in the 
picture to bring out the beauty of the lights. Could we be 
so supremely blessed in heaven, if we had not known the 
curse of sin and the sorrow of earth? Will not peace be 
sweeter after conflict, and rest more welcome after toil ? 
Will not the recollection of past sufferings enhance the bliss 
of the glorified ? There are many other comfortable answers 
to the question with which we opened our brief meditation : 
let us muse upon it all day long. 
24* 




282 DAILY READINGS. Oct. 8. 

" Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught." 
Luke v. 4. 

&E learn from this narrative the necessity of human 
agency. The draught of fishes was miraculous, yet 
neither the fisherman, nor his boat, nor his fishing 
tackle, were ignored, but all were used to take the fishes. 
So in the saving of souls, God worketh by means ; and while 
the present economy of grace shall stand, God will be pleased 
by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. 
When God worketh without instruments, doubtless He is 
glorified ; but He hath Himself selected the plan of instru- 
mentality as being that by which He is most magnified in the 
earth. Means of themselves are utterly unavailing. " Master, 
we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing." What 
was the reason of this ? Were they not fishermen plying 
their special calling ? Verily, they were no raw hands ; they 
understood the work. Had they gone about the toil unskil- 
fully ? No. Had they lacked industry ? No ; they had 
'toiled. Had they lacked perseverance ? No ; they had 
toiled all the night. Was there a deficiency of fish in the 
sea ? Certainly not, for as soon as the Master came, they 
swam to the net in shoals. What, then, is the reason ? Is 
it because there is no power in the means of themselves 
apart from the presence of Jesus? "Without Him we can 
do nothing." But with Christ we can do all things. Christ's 
presence confers success. Jesus sat in Peter's boat, and His 
will, by a mysterious influence, drew the fish to the net. 
When Jesus is lifted up in His Church, His presence is the 
Church's power — the shout of a King is in the midst of her. 
" I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me." Let us 
go out this morning on our work of soul-fishing, looking up 
in faith, and around us in solemn anxiety. Let us toil till 
night comes, and we shall not labor in vain, for He who bids 
us let down the net, will fill it with fishes. 



Oct. 9. DAILY HEADINGS. 283 

"Able to keep you from falling" — Jude 24. 



some sense the path to heaven is very safe, but in 
^j other respects there is no road so dangerous. It is 
"** beset with difficulties. One false step (and how 
easy it is to take that, if grace be absent!) and down we go. 
What a slippery path is that which some of us have to tread ! 
How many times have we to exclaim with the Psalmist, "My 
feet were almost gone ; my steps had well nigh slipped." If 
we were strong, sure-footed mountaineers, this would not 
matter so much ; but in ourselves, how weak we are ! In the 
best roads we soon falter, in the smoothest paths we quickly 
stumble. These feeble knees of ours can scarcely support 
our tottering weight. A straw may throw us, and a pebble 
can wound us ; we are mere children tremblingly taking our 
first steps in the walk of faith ; our heavenly Father holds us 
by the arms, or we should soon be down. Oh, if we are kept 
from falling, how must we bless the patient power which 
watches over us day by day ! Think how prone we are to 
sin, how apt to choose danger, how strong our tendency to 
cast ourselves down, and these reflections will make us sing 
more sweetly than we have ever done, " Grlory be to Him 
who is able to keep us from falling." We have many foes who 
try to push us down. The road is rough, and we are weak ; 
but in addition to this, enemies lurk in ambush, who rush 
out when we least expect them, and labor to trip us up, or 
hurl us down the nearest precipice. Only an Almighty arm 
can preserve us from these unseen foes, who are seeking to 
destroy us. Such an arm is engaged for our defence. He is 
faithful that hath promised, and He is able to keep us from 
falling ; so that, with a deep sense of our utter weakness, we 
may cherish a firm belief in our perfect safety, and say, with 
joyful confidence, — 

" Against me earth and hell combine, 
But on my side is power divine ; 
Jesus is all, and He is mine ! " 



284 DAILY READINGS. Oct. 10. 

"Faultless before the presence of His glory." — Jude 24. 



f 



? EVOLVE in your mind that wondrous word, "fault- 
•» less." We are far off from it now ; but as our Lord 
-^*^^ never stops short of perfection in His work of love, 
we shall reach it one day. The Saviour who will keep His 
people to the end, will also present them at last to Himself, 
as " a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any 
such thing, but holy and without blemish." All the jewels 
in the Saviour's crown are of the first water, and without a 
single flaw. All the maids of honor who attend the Lamb's 
wife are pure virgins without spot or stain. But how will 
Jesus make us faultless ? He will wash us from our sins in 
His own blood, until we are white and fair as God's purest 
angel ; and we shall be clothed in His righteousness, that 
righteousness which makes the saint who wears it positively 
faultless ; yea, perfect in the sight of God. We shall be un- 
blamable and unreprovable even in His eyes. His law will 
not only have no charge against us, but it will be magnified 
in us. Moreover, the work of the Holy Spirit within us will 
be altogether complete. He will make us so perfectly holy, 
that we shall have no lingering tendency to sin. Judgment, 
memory, will — every power and passion — shall be emanci- 
pated from the thraldom of evil. We shall be holy even as 
God is holy, and in His presence we shall dwell forever. 
Saints will not be out of place in heaven ; their beauty will 
be as great as that of the place prepared for them. Oh, the 
rapture of that hour when the everlasting doors shall be lifted 
up, and we, being made meet for the inheritance, shall dwell 
with the saints in light. Sin gone, Satan shut out, tempta- 
tion past forever, and ourselves "faultless" before God, this 
will be heaven indeed ! Let us be joyful now as we rehearse 
the song of eternal praise so soon to roll forth in full chorus 
from all the bloodwashed host ; let us copy David's exultings 
before the ark, as a prelude to our ecstasies before the throne. 




Oct. 11 DAILY READINGS. 285 

" Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.'' 
Lamentations iii. 41. 

§pEIE act of prayer teaches us our unworthiness, which 
is a very salutary lesson for such proud beings as we 
are. If God gave us favors without constraining us 
to pray for them, we should never know how poor we are; 
but a true prayer is an inventory of wants, a catalogue of 
necessities, a revelation of hidden poverty. While it is an 
application to divine wealth, it is a confession of human 
emptiness. The most healthy state of a Christian is to be 
always empty in self, and constantly depending upon the 
Lord for supplies ; to be always poor in self, and rich in Jesus ; 
weak as water personally, but mighty, through God, to do 
great exploits ; and hence the use of prayer, because, while 
it adores God, it lays the creature where it should be, in the 
very dust. Prayer is in itself, apart from the answer which 
it brings, a great benefit* to the Christian. As the runner 
gains strength for the race by daily exercise, so for the great 
race of life we acquire energy by the hallowed labor of prayer. 
Prayer plumes the wings of God's young eaglets, that they 
may learn to mount above the clouds. Prayer girds the 
loins of God's warriors, and sends them forth to combat with 
their sinews braced and their muscles firm. An earnest 
pleader cometh out of his closet, even as the sun ariseth 
from the chambers of the east, rejoicing like a strong man to 
run his race. Prayer is that uplifted hand of Moses which 
routs the Amalekites more than the sword of Joshua ; it is 
the arrow shot from the chamber of the prophet foreboding 
defeat to the Syrians. Prayer girds human weakness with 
divine strength, turns human folly into heavenly wisdom, and 
gives to troubled mortals the peace of God. We know not 
what prayer cannot do ! We thank thee, great God, for the 
mercy-seat, a choice proof of Thy marvellous loving-kindness. 
Help us to use it aright throughout this day ! 




286 DAILY READINGS. Oct. 12. 

"I will meditate in Tliy precepts" — Psalm cxix. 15. 

JgHERE are times when solitude is better than society, 
and silence is wiser than speech. We should be 
better Christians if we were more alone, waiting 
upon God, and gathering, through meditation on His Word, 
spiritual strength for labor in His service. We ought to 
muse upon the things of God, because we thus get the real nutri- 
ment out of them. Truth is something like the cluster of the 
vine ; if we would have wine from it, we must bruise it ; we 
must press and squeeze it many times. The bruisers' feet 
must come down joyfully upon the bunches, or else the juice 
will not flow; and they must well tread^the grapes, or else 
much of the precious liquid will be wasted. So we must, by 
meditation, tread the clusters of truth, if we would get the 
wine of consolation therefrom. Our bodies are not supported 
by merely taking food into the mouth, but the process which 
really supplies the muscle, and the nerve, and the sinew, 
and the bone, is the process of digestion. It is by digestion 
that the outward food becomes assimilated with the inner 
life. Our souls are not nourished merely by listening awhile 
to this, and then to that, and then to the other part of divine 
truth. Hearing, reading, marking, and learning, all require 
inwardly digesting to complete their usefulness, and the in- 
ward digesting of the truth lies for the most part in meditat- 
ing upon it. Why is it that some Christians, although they 
hear many sermons, make but slow advances in the divine 
life ? Because they neglect their closets, and do not thought- 
fully meditate on God's Word. They love the wheat, but 
they do not grind it ; they would have the corn, but they will 
not go forth into the fields to gather it ; the fruit hangs upon 
the tree, but they will not pluck it ; the water flows at their 
feet, but they will not stoop to drink it. From such folly 
deliver us, Lord, and be this our resolve this morning, 
" I will meditate in Thy precepts." 




Oct. 13. DAILY READINGS. 287 

" Godly sorrow worketh repenta7ice" — 2 Corinthians vii. 10. 

jENUINE, spiritual mourning for sin is the work of the 
Spirit of God. Repentance is too choice a flower to 
grow in nature's garden. Pearls grow naturally in 
oysters, but penitence never shows itself in sinners except 
divine grace works it in them. If thou hast one particle of 
real hatred for sin, God must have given it thee, for human 
nature's thorns never produce a single fig. " That which is 
born of flesh is flesh." 

True repentance has a distinct reference to the Saviour. 
When we repent of sin, we must have one eye upon sin and 
another upon the cross, or it will be better still if we fix both 
our eyes upon Christ, and see our transgressions only in the 
light of His love. 

True sorrow for sin is eminently practical. No man may 
say he hates sin, if he lives in it. Repentance makes us see 
the evil of sin, not merely as a theory, but experimentally — 
as a burnt child dreads fire. We shall be as much afraid of 
it, as a man who has lately been stopped and robbed is afraid 
of the thief upon the highway ; and we shall shun it — shun 
It in everything — not in great things only, but in little things, 
as men shun little vipers as well as great snakes. True mourn- 
ing for sin will make us very jealous over our tongue, lest it 
should say a wrong word ; we shall be very watchful over our 
daily actions, lest in anything we offend, and each night we 
shall close the day with painful confessions of shortcoming, 
and each morning awaken with anxious prayers, that this day 
God would hold us up that we may not sin against Him. 

Sincere repentance is continual. Believers repent until 
their dying day. This dropping well is not intermittent. 
Every other sorrow yields to time, but this dear sorrow grows 
with our growth, and it is so sweet a bitter, that we thank 
God we are permitted to enjoy and to suffer it until we enter 
our eternal rest. 



288 DAILY READINGS. Oct. 14. 

" I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of 
Christ Jesus my Lord." — Philippians iii. 8. 

^g^PIEITUAL knowledge of Christ will be a personal 
p^&W knowledge. I cannot know Jesus through another 
'^^^ person's acquaintance with Him. No, I must know 
Him myself ; I must know Him on my own account. It will 
be an intelligent knowledge — I must know Him, not as the 
visionary dreams of Him, but as the Word reveals Him. I 
must know His natures, divine and human. I must know 
His offices — His attributes — His works — His shame — His 
glory. I must meditate upon Him until I " comprehend 
with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, 
and height ; and know the love of Christ, which passeth 
knowledge." It will be an affectionate knowledge of Him ; 
indeed, if I know Him at all, I must love Him. An ounce 
of heart-knowledge is worth a ton of head-learning. Our 
knowledge of Him will be a satisfying knowledge. When I 
know my Saviour, my mind will be full to the brim — I shall 
feel that I have that which my spirit panted after. " This is 
that bread whereof if a man eat he shall never hunger." At 
the same time it will be an exciting knowledge ; the more I 
know of my Beloved, the more I shall want to know. The 
higher I climb, the loftier will be the summits which invite 
my eager footsteps. I shall want the more as I get the 
more. Like the miser's treasure, my gold will make me 
covet more. To conclude : this knowledge of Christ Jesus 
will be a most happy one ; in fact, so elevating, that some- 
times it will completely bear me up above all trials, and 
doubts, and sorrows ; and it will, while I enjoy it, make me 
something more than " man that is born of woman, who is of 
few days, and full of trouble ; " for it will fling about me the 
immortality of the ever-living Saviour, and gird me with the 
golden girdle of His eternal joy. Come, my soul, sit at Jesus' 
feet, and learn of Him all this day. 




Oct. 15. DAILY HEADINGS. 289 

11 But who may abide the day of His comingt " — Malachi iii. 2. 

|PS first coming was without external pomp or show of 
power, and yet in truth there were few who could 
abide its testing might. Herod and all Jerusalem 
with him were stirred at the news of the wondrous birth. 
Those who supposed themselves to be waiting for Him, showed 
the fallacy of their professions by rejecting Him when He came. 
His life on earth was a winnowing fan, which tried the great 
heap of religious profession, and few enough could abide the 
process. But what will His second advent be ? What sinner 
can endure to think of it ? " He shall smite the earth with 
the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall 
He slay the wicked." When in His humiliation He did but 
say to the soldiers, " I am He," they fell backward ; what 
will be the terror of His enemies when He shall more fully 
reveal Himself as the " / am " ? His death shook earth and 
darkened heaven ; what shall be the dreadful splendor of that 
day in which, as the living Saviour, He shall summon the quick 
and dead before Him ? that the terrors of the Lord would 
persuade men to forsake their sins, and kiss the Son lest He 
be angry ! Though a lamb, He is yet the lion of the tribe 
of Judah, rending the prey in pieces ; and though He breaks 
not the bruised reed, yet will He break His enemies with a 
rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. 
None of His foes shall bear up before the tempest of His 
wrath, or hide themselves from the sweeping hail of His in- 
dignation ; but His beloved blood-washed people look for His 
appearing with joy, and hope to abide it without fear : to 
them He sits as a refiner even now, and when He has tried 
them they shall come forth as .gold. Let us search ourselves 
this morning, and make our calling and election sure, so that 
the coming of the Lord may cause no dark forebodings in our 
mind. for grace to cast away all hypocrisy, and to be found 

of Him sincere and without rebuke in the day of His appearing ! 
25 




290 DAILY READINGS. Oct. 16. 

"Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine." — John xxi. 12. 

these words the believer is invited to a holy near- 
ness to Jesus. " Come and dine," implies the same 
table, the same meat ; ay, and sometimes it means to 
sit side by side, and lean onr head upon the Saviour's bosom. 
It is being brought into the banqueting-house, where waves 
the banner of redeeming love. " Come and dine," gives us 
a vision of union with Jesus, because the only food that we 
can feast upon when we dine with Jesus is Himself. Oh, 
what union is this ! It is a depth which reason cannot fathom, 
that we thus feed upon Jesus. " He that eateth My flesh, 
and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him." It 
is also an invitation to enjoy fellowship with the saints. Chris- 
tians may differ on a variety of points, but they have all one 
spiritual appetite ; and if we cannot all feel alike, we can all 
feed alike on the bread of life sent down from heaven. At 
the table of fellowship with Jesus we are one bread and one 
cup. As the loving cup goes round, we pledge one another 
heartily therein. Get nearer to Jesus, and you will find your- 
self linked more and more in spirit to all who are, like yourself, 
supported by the same heavenly manna. If we were more 
near to Jesus, we should be more near to one another. We 
likewise see in these words the source of strength for every 
Christian. To look at Christ is to live, but for strength to 
serve Him you must " come and dine." We labor under 
much unnecessary weakness on account of neglecting this 
precept of the Master. We none of us need to put ourselves 
on low diet ; on the contrary, we should fatten on the mar- 
row and fatness of the gospel, that we may accumulate strength 
therein, and urge every power to its full tension in the Mas- 
ter's service. Thus, then, if you would realize nearness to 
Jesus, union with Jesus, love to His people, and strength from 
Jesus, " come and dine " with Him by faith. 




Oct. 17. DAILY HEADINGS. 291 

" And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the 
hand of Saul." — 1 Samuel xxvii. 1. 

ps^HE thought of David's heart at this time was a, false 
thought, because he certainly had no ground for think- 
ing that God's anointing him by Samuel was intended 
to be left as an empty, unmeaning act. On no one occasion 
had the Lord deserted His servant ; he had been placed in 
perilous positions very often, but not one instance had oc- 
curred in which divine interposition had not delivered him. 
The trials to which he had been exposed had been varied ; 
they had not assumed one form only, but many — yet in 
every case He who sent the trial had also graciously ordained 
a way of escape. David could not put his finger upon any 
entry in his diary, and say of it, " Here is evidence that the 
Lord will forsake me," for the entire tenor of his past life 
proved the very reverse. He should have argued from what 
God had done for him that God would be his defender still. 
But is it not just in this same way that we doubt God's help ? 
Is it not mistrust without a cause f Have we ever had the 
shadow of a reason to doubt our Father's goodness ? Have 
not His loving-kindnesses been marvellous ? Has He once 
failed to justify our trust ? Ah, no ! our God has not left us 
at any time. We have had dark nights, but the star of love 
has shone forth amid the blackness ; we have been in stern 
conflicts, but over our head He has held aloft the shield of 
our defence. We have gone through many trials, but never 
to our detriment, always to our advantage ; and the conclu- 
sion from our past experience is, that He who has been with 
us in six troubles will not forsake us in the seventh. What 
we have known of our faithful God proves that He will keep 
us to the end. Let us not, then, reason contrary to evi- 
dence. How can we ever be so ungenerous as to doubt our 
God? Lord, throw down the Jezebel of our unbwf, and 
let the dogs devour it. 




292 DAILY READINGS. Oct. 18. 

" Thy paths drop fatness." — Psalm lxv. 11. 

)ANY are " the paths of the Lord" which " drop fat- 
but an especial one is the path of prayer. No 
believer who is much in the closet will have need to 
cry, " My leanness, my leanness ; woe unto me." Starving 
souls live at a distance from the mercy-seat, and become 
like the parched fields in times of drought. Prevalence with 
God in wrestling prayer is sure to make the believer strong 
— if not happy. The nearest place to the gate of heaven is 
the throne of the heavenly grace. Much alone, and you will 
have much assurance ; little alone with Jesus, your religion 
will be shallow, polluted with many doubts and fears, and 
not sparkling with the joy of the Lord. Since the soul- 
enriching path of prayer is open to the very weakest saint ; 
since no high attainments are required ; since you are not 
bidden to come because you are an advanced saint, but freely 
invited if you be a saint at all ; see to it, dear reader, that 
you are often in the way of private devotion. Be much on 
your knees, for so Elijah drew the rain 'upon famished Is- 
rael's fields. There is another especial path dropping with 
fatness to those who walk therein : it is the secret walk of 
communion. Oh ! the delights of fellowship with Jesus ! 
Earth hath no words which can set forth the holy calm of a 
soul leaning on Jesus' bosom. Few Christians understand 
it : they live in the lowlands, and seldom climb to the top of 
Nebo ; they live in the outer court ; they enter not the holy 
place ; they take not up the privilege of priesthood. At a 
distance they see the sacrifice, but they sit not down with 
the priest to eat thereof, and to enjoy the fat of the burnt 
offering. But, reader, sit thou ever under the shadow of 
Jesus ; come up to that palm tree, and take hold of the branches 
thereof; let thy Beloved be unto thee as the apple tree among 
the trees of the wood, and thou shalt be satisfied as with 
marrow and fatness. Jesus, visit us with Thy salvation. 




Oct. 19. DAILY HEADINGS. 293 

"Babes in Christ." — 1 Corinthians iii. 1. 

-RE you mourning, believer, because you are so weak 
in the divine life ? because your faith is so little, your 
love so feeble ? Cheer up, for you have cause for 
gratitude. Remember, that in some- things you are equal to 
the greatest and most full-grown Christian. You are as much 
bought with blood as he is. You are as much an adopted 
child of (rod as any other believer. An infant is as truly a 
child of its parents as is the full-grown man. You are as 
completely justified, for your justification is not a thing of 
degrees : your little faith has made you clean every whit. 
You have as much right to the precious things of the covenant 
as the most advanced believers, for your right to covenant 
mercies lies not in your growth, but in the covenant itself; 
and your faith in Jesus is not the measure, but the token of 
your inheritance in Him. You are as rich as the richest, if 
not in enjoyment, yet in real possession. The smallest star 
that gleams is set in heaven ; the faintest ray of light has 
affinity with the great orb of day. In the family register of 
glory the small and the great are written with the same pen. 
You are as dear to your Father's heart as the greatest in 
the family. Jesus is very tender over you. You are like 
the smoking flax. A rougher spirit would say, " Put out that 
smoking flax ; it fills the room with an offensive odor ! " but 
the smoking flax He will not quench. You are like a bruised 
reed ; and any less tender hand than that of the Chief Mu- 
sician would tread upon you, or throw you away, but He will 
never break the bruised reed. Instead of being downcast 
by reason of what you are, you should triumph in Christ. 
Am I but little in Israel ? Yet in Christ I am made to sit in 
heavenly places. Am I poor in faith ? Still in Jesus I am 
heir of all things. Though " less than nothing I can boast, 
and vanity confess," yet if the root of the matter be in me, I 
will rejoice in the Lord, and glory in the God of my salvation. 
25* 




294 DAILY READINGS. Oct. 20. 

" Grow up into Him in all things." — Ephesians iv. 15. 

)ANY Christians remain stunted and dwarfed in spir- 
itual things, so as to present the same appearance 
year after year. No up-springing of advanced and 
refined feeling is manifest in them. They exist, but do not 
" grow up into Him in all things." But should we rest con- 
tent with being in the " green blade," when we might ad- 
vance to " the ear," and eventually ripen into the " full corn 
in the ear " ? Should we be satisfied to believe in Christ, 
and to say, " I am safe," without wishing to know in our own 
experience more of the fulness which is to be found in Him ? 
It should not be so ; we should, as good traders in heaven's 
market, covet to be enriched in the knowledge of Jesus. It 
is all very well to keep other men's vineyards, but we must 
not neglect our own spiritual growth and ripening. Why 
should it always be winter time in our hearts ? We must 
have our seed time, it is true; but for a spring time — 
yea, a summer season, which shall give promise of an early 
harvest ! If we would ripen in grace, we must live near to 
Jesus — in His presence — ripened by the sunshine of His 
smiles. We must hold sweet communion with Him. We 
must leave the distant view of His face, and come near, as 
John did, and pillow our heads on His breast ; then shall we 
find ourselves advancing in holiness, in love, in faith, in 
hope — yea, in every precious gift. As the sun rises first 
on mountain-tops, and gilds them with his light, and presents 
one of the most charming sights to the eye of the traveller, 
so is it one of the most delightful contemplations in the 
world to mark the glow of the Spirit's light on the head of 
some saint, who has risen up in spiritual stature, like Saul, 
above his fellows, till, like a mighty Alp, snow-capped, he re- 
flects first among the chosen the beams of the Sun of Righte- 
ousness, and bears the sheen of His effulgence high aloft for all 
to see, and seeing it, to glorify his Father which is in heaven. 




Oct. 21. DAILY READINGS. 295 

" The love of Christ constrainetii us." — Matthew v. 47. 

„ W much owest thou unto my Lord ? Has lie ever 
» done anything for thee ? Has He forgiven thy sins ? 
Has He covered thee with a robe of righteousness ? 
Has He set thy feet upon a rock ? Has He established thy 
goings ? Has He prepared heaven for thee ? Has He pre- 
pared thee for heaven ? Has He written thy name in His 
book of life ? Has He given thee countless blessings ? Has 
He laid up for thee a store of mercies, which eye hath not 
seen nor ear heard ? Then do something for Jesus worthy 
of His love. Give not a mere wordy offering to a dying Re- 
deemer. How will you feel when your Master comes, if you 
have to confess that you did nothing for Him, but kept your 
love shut up, like a stagnant pool, neither flowing forth to 
His poor or to His work. Out on such love as that ! What 
do men think of a love which never shows itself in action ? 
Why, they say, " Open rebuke is better than secret love." 
Who will accept a love so weak that it does not actuate you 
to a single deed of self-denial, of generosity, of heroism, or 
zeal ? Think how He has loved you, and given Himself for 
you ! Do you know the power of that love ? Then let it be 
like a rushing mighty wind to your soul, to sweep out the 
clouds of your worldliness, and clear away the mists of sin. 
" For Christ's sake " — be this the tongue of fire that shall sit 
upon you : " for Christ's sake " — be this the divine rapture, 
the heavenly afflatus to bear you aloft from earth, the divine 
spirit that shall make you bold as lions and swift as eagles 
in your Lord's service. Love should give wings to the feet 
of service, and strength to the arms of labor. Fixed on God 
with a constancy that is not to be shaken, resolute to honor 
Him with a determination that is not to be turned aside, and 
pressing on with an ardor never to be wearied, let us mani- 
fest the constraints of love to Jesus. May the divine load- 
stone draw us heavenward towards itself! 




296 DAILY READINGS. Oct. 22. 

" I will love them freely." — Hosea xiv. 4. 

jg§?HIS sentence is a body of divinity in miniature. He 
J who understands its meaning is a theologian, and he 
who can dive into its fulness is a true master in Is- 
rael. It is a condensation of the glorious message of salva- 
tion which was delivered to us in Christ Jesus our Redeemer. 
The sense hinges upon the word " freely." This is the glo- 
rious, the suitable, the divine way by which love streams 
from heaven to earth, a spontaneous love flowing forth to 
those who neither deserved it, purchased it, nor sought after 
it. It is, indeed, the only way in which God can love such 
as we are. The text is a death-blow to all sorts of fitness ! 
" I will love them freely." Now, if there were any fitness 
necessary in us, then He would not love us freely ; at least, 
this would be a mitigation and a drawback to the freeness 
of it. But it stands, " I will love you freely." We com- 
plain, " Lord, my heart is so hard." " I will love you 
freely." " But I do not feel my need of Christ as I could 
wish." " I will not love you because you feel your need : I 
will love you freely." " But I do not feel that softening of 
spirit which I could desire." Remember, the softening of 
spirit is not a condition, for there are no conditions ; the 
covenant of grace has no conditionality whatever ; so that 
we, without any fitness, may venture upon the promise of 
God which was made to us in Christ Jesus, when He said, 
" He that believeth on Him is not condemned." It is 
blessed to know that the grace of God is free to us at all 
times, without preparation, without fitness, without money, 
and without price ! "I will love them freely." These words 
invite backsliders to return : indeed, the text was specially 
written for such — " I will heal their backsliding ; I will love 
them freely." Backslider ! surely the generosity of the 
promise will at once break your heart, and you will return 
and seek your injured Father's face. 



Oct. 23. DAILY READINGS. 297 

" Will ye also go away ? " — John vi. 67. 




)ANY have forsaken Christ, and have walked no more 
with Him ; but what reason have you to make a 
change ? Has there been any reason for it in the 
past f Has not Jesus proved Himself all-sufficient ? He 
appeals to you this morning — "Have I been a wilderness 
unto you ? " When your soul has simply trusted Jesus, have 
you ever been confounded ? Have you not up till now found 
your Lord to be a compassionate and generous friend to 
you, and has not simple faith in Him given you all the peace 
your spirit could desire ? Can you so much as dream of a 
better friend than He has been to you ? Then change not 
the old and tried for new and false. As for the present, can 
that compel you to leave Christ ? When we are hard beset 
with this world, or with the severer trials within the Church, 
we find it a most blessed thing to pillow our head upon the 
bosom of our Saviour. This is the joy we have to-day, that 
we are saved in Him, and if this joy be satisfying, wherefore 
should we think of changing ? Who barters gold for dross ? 
We will not forswear the sun till we find a better light, nor 
leave our Lord until a brighter lover shall appear ; and, since 
this can never be, we will hold Him with a grasp immortal, 
and bind His name as a seal upon our arm. As for the 
future, can you suggest anything which can arise that shall 
render it necessary for you to mutiny, or desert the old flag 
to serve under another captain ? We think not. If life be 
long, He changes not. If we are poor, what better than to 
have Christ, who can make us rich ? When we are sick, 
what more do we want than Jesus to make our bed in our 
sickness? When we die — is it not written that "neither 
death, nor life, nor things present, nor things to come, shall 
be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in 
Christ Jesus our Lord " ? We say with Peter, " Lord, to 
whom shall we go ? " 




298 DAILY HEADINGS. Oct. 24. 

" The trees of the Lord are full of sap." — Psalm civ. 16. 

f.ITHOUT sap the tree cannot flourish, or even exist. 
Vitality is essential to a Christian. There must be 
life — a vital principle infused into us by God the 
Holy Ghost — or we cannot be trees of the Lord. The 
mere name of being a Christian is but a dead thing ; we must 
be filled with the spirit of divine life. This life is mysterious. 
We do not understand the circulation of the sap — by what 
force it rises, and by what power it descends again. So the 
life within us is a sacred mystery. Regeneration is wrought 
by the Holy Ghost entering into man and becoming man's 
life ; and this divine life in a believer afterwards feeds upon 
the flesh and blood of Christ, and is thus sustained by divine 
food ; but whence it cometh and whither it goeth, who shall 
explain to us ? What a secret thing the sap is ! The roots 
go searching through the soil with their little spongioles, but 
we cannot see them suck out the various gases, or transmute 
the mineral into the vegetable : this work is done down in the 
dark. Our root is Christ Jesus, and our life is hid in him : 
this is the secret of the Lord. The radix of the Christian 
life is as secret as the life itself. How 'permanently active is 
the sap in the cedar ! In the Christian, the divine life is 
always full of energy — not always in fruit-bearing, but in 
inward operations. The believer's graces are not every one 
of them in constant motion, but his life never ceases to pal- 
pitate within. He is not always working for God, but his 
heart is always living upon Him. As the sap manifests itself 
in producing the foliage and fruit of the tree, so with a truly 
healthy Christian ; his grace is externally manifested in his 
walk and conversation. If you talk with him, he cannot 
help speaking about Jesus. If you notice his actions, you 
will see that he has been with Jesus. He has so much sap 
within, that it must fill his conduct and conversation with 
life. 



Oct. 25. DAILY READINGS. 299 

" For the truth's sake which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us 
forever" — 2 John 2. 

^pjT^NCE let the truth of God obtain an entrance into the 
&V M3 human heart, and subdue the whole man unto itself, 
-*^"^» no power, human or infernal, can dislodge it. We en- 
tertain it not as a guest, but as the master of the house — this 
is a Christian necessity ; he is no Christian who doth not thus 
believe. Those who feel the vital power of the gospel, and 
know the might of the Holy Ghost as He opens, applies, and 
seals the Lord's Word, would sooner be torn to pieces than 
be rent away from the gospel of their salvation. What a 
thousand mercies are wrapped up in the assurance that the 
truth will be with us forever ; will be our living support, our 
dying comfort, our rising song, our eternal glory ! This is 
Christian privilege ; without it our faith were little worth. 
Some truths we outgrow and leave behind, for they are but 
rudiments and lessons for beginners ; but we cannot thus deal 
with Divine truth, for though it is sweet food for babes, it is 
in the highest sense strong meat for men. The truth that 
we are sinners, is painfully with us to humble and make 
us watchful ; the more blessed truth that whosoever believeth 
on the Lord Jesus shall be saved, abides with us as our hope 
and joy. Experience, so far from loosening our hold of the 
doctrines of grace, has knit us to them more and more firmly; 
our grounds and motives for believing are now more strong, 
more numerous than ever, and we have reason to expect that 
it will be so till in death we clasp the Saviour in our arms. 

Wherever this abiding love of truth can be discovered, we 
are bound to exercise our love. No narrow circle can contain 
our gracious sympathies ; wide as the election of grace must 
be our communion of heart. Much of error may be mingled 
with truth received ; let us war with the error, but still love 
the brother for the measure of truth which we see in Him ; 
above all, let us love and spread the truth ourselves. 



300 DAILY READINGS. Oct. 26. 

" Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little ; and when ye 
brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why ? saith the Lord 
of hosts. Because of Mine house that is waste, and ye run 
every man unto his own house." — Haggai i. 9. 

CHURLISH souls stint their contributions to the min- 
$ istry and missionary operations, and call such saving 
good economy ; little do they dream that they are 
thus impoverishing themselves. Their excuse is, that they 
must care for their own families, and they forget that to 
neglect the house of God is the sure way to bring ruin upon 
their own houses. Our God has a method in providence by 
which He can succeed our endeavors beyond our expectation, 
or can defeat our plans to our confusion and dismay ; by a 
turn of His hand He can steer our vessel in a profitable 
channel, or run it aground in poverty and bankruptcy. It is 
the teaching of Scripture that the Lord enriches the liberal, 
and leaves the miserly to find out that withholding tendeth to 
poverty. In a very wide sphere of observation, I have 
noticed that the most generous Christians of my acquaint- 
ance have been always the most happy, and almost invari- 
ably the most prosperous. I have seen the liberal giver rise 
to wealth of which he never dreamed; and I have as often 
seen the mean, ungenerous churl descend to poverty by the 
very parsimony by which he thought to rise. Men trust 
good stewards with larger and larger sums ; and so it fre- 
quently is with the Lord ; He gives by cartloads to those who 
give by bushels. Where wealth is not bestowed, the Lord 
makes the little much by the contentment which the sanctified 
heart feels in a portion of which the tithe has been dedicated 
to the Lord. Selfishness looks first at home, but godliness 
seeks first the kingdom of God and His righteousness ; yet, in 
the long run, selfishness is loss, and godliness is great gain. It 
needs faith to act towards our God with an open hand ; but 
surely He deserves it of us ; and all that we can do is a very poor 
acknowledgment of our amazing indebtedness to His goodness. 



Oct. 27. DAILY HEADINGS. 301 

" It is a faithful saying." — 2 Timothy ii. 11. 

|AUL has four of these "faithful sayings." The first 
occurs in 1 Timothy i. 8 : " This is a faithful saying, 
P^ and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came 
into the world to save sinners." The next is in 1 Tim- 
othy iv. 6 : " Godliness is profitable unto all things, hav- 
ing the promise of the life that now is, and of that which 
is to come. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all ac- 
ceptation." The third is in 2 Timothy ii. 12 : " It is a faith- 
ful saying, If we suffer with Him we shall also reign with 
Him ; " and the fourth is in Titus iii. 3 : " This is a faithful 
saying, that they which have believed in God might be care- 
ful to maintain good works." We may trace a connection 
between these faithful sayings. The first one lays the founda- 
tion of our eternal salvation in the free grace of God, as 
shown to us in the mission of the great Redeemer. The next 
affirms the double blessedness which we obtain through this 
salvation — the blessings of the upper and nether springs — 
of time and of eternity. The third shows one of the duties 
to which the chosen people are called ; we are ordained to 
suffer for Christ, with the promise that " if we suffer, we shall 
also reign with Him." The last sets forth the active form of 
Christian service, bidding us diligently to maintain good 
works. Thus we have the root of salvation in free grace ; 
next, the privileges of that salvation in the life which now is, 
and in that which is to come ; and we have also the two great 
branches of suffering with Christ and serving with Christ, 
loaded with the fruits of the Spirit. Treasure up these faith- 
ful sayings. Let them be the guides of our life, our comfort, 
and our instruction. The apostle of the Gentiles proved them 
to be faithful ; they are faithful still ; not one word shall fall 
to the ground : they are worthy of all acceptation ; let us ac- 
cept them now, and prove their faithfulness. Let these four 
faithful sayings be written on the four corners of my house 
26 



302 DAILY READINGS. Oct. 28. 

" I have chosen you out of the world." — John xv. 19. 




pERE is distinguishing grace and discriminating re- 
gard ; for some are made the special objects of divine 
affection. Do not be afraid to dwell upon this high 
doctrine of election. When your mind is most heavy and 
depressed, you will find it to be a bottle of richest cordial. 
Those who doubt the doctrines of grace, or who cast them 
into the shade, miss the richest clusters of Eshcol ; they lose 
the wines on the lees well refined, the fat things full of marrow. 
There is no balm in Gilead comparable to it. If the honey 
in Jonathan's wood, when but touched, enlightened the eyes, 
this is honey which will enlighten your heart to love and learn 
the mysteries of the kingdom of God. Eat, and fear not a 
surfeit ; live upon this choice dainty, and fear not that it will 
be too delicate a diet. Meat from the King's table will hurt 
none of His courtiers. Desire to have your mind enlarged, 
that you may comprehend more and more the eternal, ever- 
lasting, discriminating love of God. When you have mounted 
as high as election, tarry on its sister mount, the covenant 
of grace. Covenant engagements are the munitions of stu- 
pendous rock behind which we lie intrenched ; covenant 
engagements with the surety, Christ Jesus, are the quiet 
resting-places of trembling spirits. 

"His oath, His covenant, His blood, 
Support me in the raging flood ; 
When every earthly prop gives way, 
This still is all my strength and stay." 

If Jesus undertook to bring me to glory, and if the Father 
promised that He would give me to the Son to be a part of 
the infinite reward of the travail of His soul, then, my soul, 
till God Himself fchall be unfaithful, till Jesus shall cease to be 
the truth, thou art safe. When David danced before the ark, 
he told Michal that election made him do so. Come, my 
soul, exult before the God of grace, and leap for joy of heart. 




Oct. 29. DAILY READINGS. 303 

" After this manner therefore pray ye : Our Father, which art in 
heaven" &c. — Matthew vi. 9. 

SHIS prayer begins where all true prayer must com- 
| mence — with the spirit of adoption, "Our Father." 
There is no acceptable prayer until we can say, " I 
will arise and go unto my Father." This child-like spirit 
soon perceives the grandeur of the Father " in heaven," and 
ascends to devout adoration — "Hallowed be Thy name." 
The child lisping, " Abba, Father," grows into the cherub 
crying, " Holy, Holy, Holy." There is but a step from rap- 
turous worship to the glowing missionary spirit, which is a sure 
outgrowth of filial love and reverent adoration — " Thy king- 
dom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." 
Next follows the heartfelt expression of dependence upon Grod 
— " Give us this day our daily bread." Being further illu- 
minated by the Spirit, he discovers that he is not only de- 
pendent, but sinful; hence he entreats for mercy — "Forgive 
us our debts as we forgive our debtors : " and being pardoned, 
having the righteousness of Christ imputed, and knowing his 
acceptance with Grod, he humbly supplicates for holy persever- 
ance — "Lead us not into temptation." The man who is really 
forgiven, is anxious not to offend again ; the possession of jus- 
tification leads to an anxious desire for sanctification. " For- 
give us our debts ; " that is justification. " Lead us not into 
temptation, but deliver us from evil ; " that is sanctification in 
its negative and positive forms. As the result of all this, 
there follows a triumphant ascription of praise — " Thine is the 
kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen." 
We rejoice that our King reigns in providence and shall 
reign in grace, from the river even to the ends of the earth, 
and of His dominion there shall be no end. Thus from a 
sense of adoption, up to fellowship with our reigning Lord, 
this short model of prayer conducts the soul. Lord, teach 
us thus to pray. 




304 DAILY HEADINGS. Oct. 30. 

" I will praise Thee, Lord" — Psalm ix. 1. 

piAISE should always follow answered prayer, as the 
mist of earth's gratitude rises when the sun of heaven's 
love warms the ground. Hath the Lord been gra- 
cious to thee, and inclined his ear to the voice of thy suppli- 
cation ? Then praise Him as long as thou livest. Let the 
ripe fruit drop upon the fertile soil from which it drew its 
life. Deny not a song to Him who hath answered thy prayer 
and given thee the desire of thy heart. To be silent over 
God's mercies is to incur the guilt of ingratitude ; it is to act 
as basely as the nine lepers, who, after they had been cured 
of their leprosy, returned not to give thanks unto the healing 
Lord. To forget to praise God, is to refuse to benefit our- 
selves ; for praise, like prayer, is one great means of promot- 
ing the growth of the spiritual life. It helps to remove our 
burdens, to excite our hope, to increase our faith. It is a 
healthful and invigorating exercise, which quickens the pulse 
of the believer, and nerves him for fresh enterprises in his 
Master's service. To bless God for mercies received is also 
the way to benefit our fellow-men ; " the humble shall hear 
thereof and be glad." Others, who have been in like circum- 
stances, shall take comfort if we can say, " Oh ! magnify the 
Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together ; this poor 
man cried, and the Lord heard him." Weak hearts will be 
strengthened, and drooping saints will be revived, as they 
listen to our " songs of deliverance." Their doubts and 
fears will be rebuked, as we teach and admonish one another 
in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. They too shall 
" sing in the ways of the Lord," when they hear us magnify 
His holy name. Praise is the most heavenly of Christian 
duties. The angels pray not, but they cease not to praise 
both day and night ; and the redeemed, clothed in white 
robes, with palm-branches in their hands, are never weary 
of singing the new song, " Worthy is the Lamb." 



Oct. 31. DAILY READINGS. 305 

"Renew a right spirit witliin me." — Psalm li. 10. 

[g BACKSLIDER, if ttare be a spark of life left in 
|H him, will groan after restoration. In this renewal 
the same exercise of grace is required as at our con- 
version. We needed repentance then ; we certainly need it 
now. We wanted faith that we might come to Christ at 
first ; only the like grace can bring us to Jesus now. We 
wanted a word from the Most High, a word from the lip of 
the loving One, to end our fears then ; we shall soon dis- 
cover, when under a sense of present sin, that we need it 
now. No man can be renewed without as real and true a mani- 
festation of the Holy Spirit's energy as he felt at first, be- 
cause the work is as great, and flesh and blood are as much 
in the way now as ever they were. Let thy personal weak- 
ness, O Christian, be an argument to make thee pray ear- 
nestly to thy Grod for help. Eemember, David, when he felt 
himself to be powerless, did not fold his arms or close his 
lips, but he hastened to the mercy-seat with, " Renew a right 
spirit within me." Let not the doctrine that you, unaided, 
can do nothing, make you sleep ; but let it be a goad in your 
side to drive you with an awful earnestness to Israel's strong 
Helper. that you may have grace to plead with Grod, as 
though you pleaded for your very life — "Lord, renew a 
right spirit within me." He who sincerely prays to Grod to 
do this, will prove his honesty by usicg the means through 
which God works. Be much in prayer ; live much upon the 
Word of Grod ; kill the lusts which have driven your Lord 
from you ; be careful to watch over the future uprisings of 
sin. The Lord has his own appointed ways ; sit by the way- 
side, and you will be ready when He passes by. Continue in 
all those blessed ordinances which will foster and nourish 
your dying graces ; and, knowing that all the power must 
proceed from Him, cease not to cry, " Renew a right spirit 

within me." 

26* 




306 DAILY READINGS. NoV. 1. 

" TJie Church in thy house" — Philemon 2. 

^S there a Church in this house ? Are parents, chil- 
dren, friends, servants, all members of it? or are 
some still unconverted ? Let us pause here, and let 
the question go round — Am I a member of the Church in 
this house? How would father's heart leap for joy, and 
mother's eyes fill with holy tears, if from the eldest to the 
youngest all were saved ! Let us pray for this great mercy 
until the Lord shall grant it to us. Probably it had been the 
dearest object of Philemon's desires to have all his household 
saved ; but it was not at first granted him in its fulness. He 
had a wicked servant, Onesimus, who, having wronged him, 
ran away from his service. His master's prayers followed 
him, and at last, as Grod would have it, Onesimus was led to 
hear Paul preach ; his heart was touched, and he returned to 
Philemon, not only to be a faithful servant, but a brother 
beloved, adding another member to the Church in Philemon's 
house. Is there an unconverted servant or child absent this 
morning ? Make special supplication that such may, on their 
return to their home, gladden all hearts with good news of 
what grace has done ! Is there one present ? Let him par- 
take in the same earnest entreaty. 

If there be such a Church in our house, let us order it well, 
and let all act as in the sight of Grod. Let us move in the 
common affairs of life with studied holiness, diligence, kind- 
ness, and integrity. More is expected of a Church than of 
an ordinary household ; family worship must, in such a case, 
be more devout and hearty ; internal love must be more warm 
and unbroken, and external conduct must be more sanctified 
and Christ-like. We need not fear that the smallness of our 
number will put us out of the list of Churches, for the Holy 
Spirit has here enrolled a family-church in the inspired book 
of remembrance. As a Church let us now draw nigh to the 
great Head of the one Church universal, and let us beseech Him 
to give us grace to shine before men to the glory of His name. 



NOV. 2. DAILY READINGS. 307 

" / am the Lord, I change not." — Malachi iii. 6. 




f 



: T is well for us that, amidst all the variableness of 
life, there is One whom change cannot affect ; One 
whose heart can never alter, and on whose brow mu- 
tability can make no furrows. All things else have changed 
— all things are changing. The sun itself grows dim with 
age ; the world is waxing old ; the folding up of the worn- 
out vesture has commenced ; the heavens and earth must soon 
pass away ; they shall perish, they shall wax old as doth a 
garment ; but there is One who only hath immortality, of 
whose years there is no end, and in whose person there is no 
change. The delight which the mariner feels, when, after 
having been tossed about for many a day, he steps again upon 
the solid shore, is the satisfaction of a Christian, when, amidst 
all the changes of this troublous life, he rests the foot of his 
faith upon this truth — " / am the Lord, I change not" 

The stability which the anchor gives the ship when it has 
at last obtained a hold-fast, is like that which the Christians 
hope affords him when it fixes itself upon this glorious truth! 
With G-od " is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." 
Whatever His attributes were of old, they are now; His 
power, His wisdom, His justice, His truth, are alike un- 
changed. He has ever been the refuge of His people, their 
stronghold in the day of trouble, and He is their sure helper 
still. He is unchanged in His love. He has loved His peo- 
ple with " an everlasting love ; " He loves them now as much 
as ever He did, and when all earthly things shall have melted 
in the last conflagration, His love will still wear the dew of 
its youth. Precious is the assurance that He changes not ! 
The wheel of providence revolves, but its axle is eternal love. 

" Death and change are busy ever ; 
Man decays and ages move ; 
But His mercy waneth never; 
God is wisdom, God is love." 




53TXV 



308 DAILY READINGS. Nov. 3. 

"Behold, he prayeth." — Acts ix. 11. 

^^plAYERS are instantly noticed in heaven. The mo- 
ment Saul began to pray the Lord heard him. Here 
is comfort for the distressed but praying soul. Of- 
tentimes a poor broken-hearted one bends his knee, but can 
only utter his wailing in the language of sighs and tears ; 
yet that groan has made all the harps of heaven thrill with 
music ; that tear has been caught by Grod, and treasured in 
the lachrymatory of heaven. " Thou puttest my tears into 
Thy bottle," implies that they are caught as they flow. The 
suppliant whose fears prevent his words will be well under- 
stood by the Most High. He may only look up with misty 
eye ; but " prayer is the falling of a tear." Tears are the 
diamonds of heaven ; sighs are a part of the music of Jeho- 
vah's court, and are numbered with " the sublimest strains 
that reach the Majesty on high." Think not that your prayer, 
however weak or trembling, will be unregarded. Jacob's 
ladder is lofty, but our prayer shall lean upon the angel of 
the covenant, and so climb its starry rounds. Our God not 
only hears prayer, but also loves to hear it. " He forgetteth 
not the cry of the humble." True, He regards not high looks 
and lofty words ; He cares not for the pomp and pageantry 
of kings ; He listens not to the swell of martial music ; He 
regards not the triumph and pride of man ; but wherever 
there is a heart big with sorrow, or a lip quivering with 
agony, or a deep groan, or a penitential sigh, the heart of 
Jehovah is open ; He marks it down in the registry of His 
memory ; He puts our prayers, like rose leaves, between the 
pages of His book of remembrance, and when the volume is 
opened at last, there shall be a precious fragrance springing 
up therefrom. 

" Faith asks no signal from the skies, 
To show that prayers accepted rise - r 
Our Priest is in His holy place, 
And answers from the throne of grace." 




NOV. 4. DAILY READINGS. 309 

"For My strength is made perfect in weakness" — 2 Cor. xii. 9. 

PRIMARY qualification for serving God with any 
amount of success, and for doing God's work well and 
triumphantly, is a sense of our own weakness. When 
God's warrior marches forth to battle, strong in his own 
might ; when he boasts, " I know that I shall conquer ; my 
own right arm and my conquering sword shall get unto me 
the victory," — defeat is not far distant. God will not go 
forth with that man who marches in his own strength. He 
who reckoneth on victory thus, has reckoned wrongly, for 
" it is not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith 
the Lord of hosts." They who go forth to fight, boasting 
of their prowess, shall return with their gay banners trailed 
in the dust, and their armor stained with disgrace. Those 
who serve God must serve Him in His own way, and in His 
strength, or He will never accept their service. That which 
man doth, unaided by divine strength, God can never own. 
The mere fruits of the earth He casteth away ; He will only 
reap that corn, the seed of which was sown from heaven, 
watered by grace, and ripened by the sun of divine love. 
God will empty out all that thou hast before He will put His 
own into thee ; He will first clean out thy granaries before 
He will fill them with the finest of the wheat. The river of 
God is full of water ; but not one drop of it flows from earthly 
springs. God will have no strength used in His battles but 
the strength which He Himself imparts. Are you mourning 
over your own weakness ? Take courage, for there must be 
a consciousness of weakness before the Lord will give thee 
victory. Your emptiness is but the preparation for your 
being filled, and your casting down is but the making ready 
for your lifting up. 

"When I am weak, then am I strong; 
Grace is my shield, and Christ my song." 




310 DAILY HEADINGS. Nov. 5. 

" No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper." — Isa. liv. 17. 

"H^HIS day is notable in English history for three great 
deliverances wrought by God for us. 

The first, the total destruction of the Spanish Ar- 
mada, by the breath of the Almighty, in 1588. 

""When mighty navies from afar, 
To Britain wafted, floating war, 
His breath dispersed them all with ease, 
And sunk their terrors in the seas." 

On this day the plot of the Papists to destroy our House 
of Parliament was discovered, 1605. 

" While for our princes they prepare 
In caverns deep a burning snare, 
He shot from heaven a piercing ray, 
And the dark treachery brought to day." 

Yet, thirdly, to-day is the anniversary of the landing of 
King William III. at Torbay, by which the hope of Popish as- 
cendency was quashed, and religious liberty was secured, 1688. 

This day ought to be celebrated, not by the saturnalia of 
striplings, but by the songs of saints. Our Puritan fore- 
fathers most devoutly made it a special time of thanksgiving ; 
there is extant a record of the annual sermons preached by 
Matthew Henry on this day. Our Protestant feeling, and 
our love of liberty, should make us regard its anniversary 
with holy gratitude. Let our hearts and lips exclaim, " We 
have heard with our ears, and our fathers have told us, the 
wondrous things which Thou didst in their day, and in the 
old time before them." Thou hast made this nation the 
home of the gospel ; and when the foe has risen against her, 
Thou hast shielded her. Thrice repeated songs for thrice 
repeated deliverances. Grant us more and more a hatred 
of Antichrist, and hasten on the day of her entire extinction. 
Till then and ever, we believe the promise, " No weapon 
that is formed against thee shall prosper." 




Nov. 6. DAILY READINGS. 311 

" I will pour water upon him that is thirsty." — Isaiah xliv. 3. 

^HEN a believer has fallen into a low, sad state of 
feeling, he often tries to lift himself out of it by 
chastening himself with dark and doleful fears. Such 
is not the way to rise from the dust, but to continue in it. 
As well chain the eagle's wing to make it mount, as doubt 
in order to increase our grace. It is not the law, but the 
gospel, which saves the seeking soul at first ; and it is not a 
legal bondage, but gospel liberty, which can restore the faint- 
ing believer afterwards. Slavish fear brings not back the 
backslider to God, but the sweet wooings of love allure him 
to Jesus' bosom. Are you this morning thirsting for the 
living God, and unhappy because you cannot find Him to 
the delight of your heart ? Have you lost the joy of religion, 
and is this your prayer, " Restore unto me the joy of Thy 
salvation " ? Are you conscious, also, that you are barren, 
like the dry ground ? that you are not bringing forth the 
fruit unto God which He has a right to expect of you ? that 
you are not so useful in the Church, or in the world, as your 
heart desires to be ? Then here is exactly the promise which 
you need : " I will pour water upon him that is thirsty." 
You shall receive the grace you so much require, and you 
shall have it to the utmost reach of your needs. Water re- 
freshes the thirsty : you shall be refreshed ; your desires 
shall be gratified. Water quickens sleeping vegetable life : 
your life shall be quickened by fresh grace. Water swells 
the buds, and makes the fruits ripen : you shall have fructi- 
fying grace ; you shall be made fruitful in the ways of God. 
Whatever good quality there is in divine grace, you shall 
enjoy it to the full. All the riches of divine grace you shall 
receive in plenty ; you shall be, as it were, drenched with 
it: and as sometimes the meadows become flooded by the 
bursting rivers, and the fields are turned into pools, so shall 
you be — the thirsty land shall be springs of water. 




312 DAILY READINGS. NoV. 7. 

" Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands." 
Isaiah xlix. 16. 

^j$0 doubt a part of the wonder which is concentrated in 
the word " Behold" is excited by the unbelieving 
lamentation of the preceding sentence. Zion said, 
"The Lord hath forsaken me, and my God hath forgotten 
me." How amazed the divine mind seems to be at this 
wicked unbelief ! What can be more astounding than the 
unfounded doubts and fears of God's favored people ? The 
Lord's loving word of rebuke should make us blush. He cries, 
" How can I have forgotten thee, when I have graven thee 
upon the palms of My hands ? How darest thou doubt My 
constant remembrance, when the memorial is set upon My 
very flesh ? " unbelief, how strange a marvel thou art ! 
We know not which most to wonder at, the faithfulness of 
God or the unbelief of His people. He keeps his promise a 
thousand times, and yet the next trial makes us doubt Him. 
He never faileth ; He is never a dry well ; He is never as a 
setting sun, a passing meteor, or a melting vapor ; and yet 
we are as continually vexed with anxieties, molested with 
suspicions, and disturbed with fears, as if our God were the 
mirage of the desert. " Behold " is a word intended to excite 
admiration. Here, indeed, we have a theme for marvelling. 
Heaven and earth may well be astonished that rebels should 
obtain so great a nearness to the heart of infinite love as to 
be written upon the palms of His hands. " I have graven 
thee." It does not say, " thy name." The name is there, 
but that is not all : " I have graven thee." See the fulness 
of this ! I have graven thy person, thine image, thy case, 
thy circumstances, thy sins, thy temptations, thy weaknesses, 
thy wants, thy works ; I have graven thee, everything about 
thee, all that concerns thee ; I have put thee altogether 
there. Wilt thou ever say again that thy God hath forsaken 
thee, when He has graven thee upon His own palms ? 




NOV. 8. DAILY READINGS. 813 

" As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord" — Col. ii. 6. 

^■gjHE life of faith is represented as receiving — an act 
which implies the very opposite of anything like merit. 
It is simply the acceptance of a gift. As the earth 
drinks in the rain, as the sea receives the streams, as night 
accepts light from the stars, so we, giving nothing, partake 
freely of the grace of God. The saints are not, by nature, 
wells, or streams ; they are but cisterns into which the living 
water flows ; they are empty vessels into which God pours 
His salvation. The idea of receiving implies a sense of real- 
ization, making the matter a reality. One cannot very well 
receive a shadow ; we receive that which is substantial : so is 
it in the life of faith, Christ becomes real to us. While we are 
without faith, Jesus is a mere name to us — a person who lived 
a long while ago, so long ago that His life is only a history 
to us now ! By an act of faith Jesus becomes a real person 
in the consciousness of our heart. But receiving also means 
grasping, or getting possession of. The thing which I receive 
becomes my own : I appropriate to myself that which is given. 
When I receive Jesus, He becomes my Saviour, so mine that 
neither life nor death shall be able to rob me of Him. All 
this it is to receive Christ — to take Him as God's free gift ; 
to realize Him in my heart, and to appropriate Him as mine. 
Salvation may be described as the blind receiving sight, 
the deaf receiving hearing, the dead receiving life ; but we 
have not only received these blessings, we have received 
Chejst Jesus Himself. It is true that He gave us life from 
the dead. He gave us pardon of sin ; He gave us imputed 
righteousness. These are all precious things, but we are not 
content with them ;. we have received Christ Himself. The 
Son of God has been poured into us, and we have received 
Him, and appropriated Him. What a heartful Jesus must 
be, for heaven itself cannot contain Him ! 
27 




314 DAILY HEADINGS. Nov. 9. 

" So walk ye in Him." — Colossians ii. 6. 

we have received Christ Himself in our inmost hearts, 
our new life will manifest its intimate acquaintance 
with Him by a walk of faith in Him. Walking im- 
plies action. Our religion is not to be confined to our closet; 
we must carry out into practical effect that which we believe.- 
If a man walks in Christ, then he so acts as Christ would act ; 
for Christ being in him, his hope, his love, his joy, his life, 
he is the reflex of the image of Jesus ; and men say of that 
man, " He is like his Master ; he lives like Jesus Christ." 
Walking signifies progress. " So walk ye in Him ; " proceed 
from grace to grace, run forward until you reach the utter- 
most degree of knowledge that a man can attain concerning 
our Beloved. Walking implies continuance. There must 
be a perpetual abiding in Christ. How many Christians 
think that in the morning and evening they ought to come 
into the company of Jesus, and may then give their hearts to 
the world all the day ! But this is poor living ; we should 
always be with Him, treading in His steps, and doing His 
will. Walking also implies habit. When we speak of a man's 
walk and conversation, we mean his habits, the constant 
tenor of his life. Now, if we sometimes enjoy Christ, and 
then forget Him ; sometimes call Him ours, and anon lose 
our hold, that is not a habit ; we do not walk in Him. We 
must keep to Him, cling to Him, never let Him go, but live 
and have our being in Him. " As ye have received Christ 
Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him ; " persevere in the same 
way in which ye have begun, and, as at the first Christ Jesus 
was the trust of your faith, the source of your life, the prin- 
ciple of your action, and the joy of your spirit, so let Him be 
the same till life's end ; the same when you walk through the 
valley of the shadow of death, and enter into the joy and the 
rest which remain for the people of Grod. Holy Spirit, 
enable us to obey this heavenly precept. 




NOV. 10. DAILY READINGS. 315 

" The eternal God is thy refuge." — Deut. xxxiii. 27. 

word refuge may be translated " mansion," or 
" abiding-place," which gives the thought that God is 
our abode, our home. There is a fulness and sweetness 
in the metaphor, for dear to our hearts is our home, although 
it be the humblest cottage, or the scantiest garret ; and dear- 
er far is our blessed God, in whom we live, and move, and 
have our being. It is at home that we feel safe : we shut 
the world out and dwell in quiet security. So when we are 
with our God we " fear no evil." He is our shelter and 
retreat, our abiding refuge. At home, we take our rest ; it 
is there we find repose after the fatigue and toil of the day. 
And so our hearts find rest in God, when, wearied with life's 
conflict, we turn to Him, and our soul dwells at ease. At 
home also, we let our hearts loose; we are not afraid of being 
misunderstood, nor of our words being misconstrued. So 
when we are with God we can commune freely with him, lay- 
ing open all our hidden desires ; for if the " secret of the 
Lord is with them that fear Him," the secrets of them that 
fear Him ought to be, and must be, with their Lord. Home, 
too, is the place of our truest and 'purest happiness ; and it is 
in God that our hearts find their deepest delight. We have 
joy in Him which far surpasses all other joy. It is also for 
home that we work and labor. The thought of it gives strength 
to bear the daily burden, and quickens the fingers to perform 
the task; and in this sense we may also say that God is our 
home. Love to Him strengthens us. We think of Him in 
the person of His dear Son ; and a glimpse of the suffering 
face of the Redeemer constrains us to labor in His cause. 
We feel that we must work, for we have brethren yet to be 
saved, and we have our Father's heart to make glad by bring- 
ing home His wandering sons ; we would fill with holy mirth 
the sacred family among whom we dwell. Happy are those 
who have thus the God of Jacob for their refuge ! 




316 DAILY HEADINGS. NOV. 11. 

" Underneath are the everlasting arms." — Deut. xxxiii. 27. 

^OD — the eternal God — is Himself our sup-port at all 
times, and especially when we are sinking in deep 
trouble. There are seasons when the Christian sinks 
very low in humiliation. Under a deep sense of his great 
sinfulness, he is humbled before God till he scarcely knows 
how to pray, because he appears, in his own sight, so worth- 
less. Well, child of God, remember that when thou art at 
thy worst and lowest, yet " underneath " thee " are the ever- 
lasting arms." Sin may drag thee ever so low, but Christ's 
great atonement is still under all. You may have descended 
into the deeps, but you cannot have fallen so low as " the 
uttermost ; " and to the uttermost He saves. Again, the 
Christian sometimes sinks very deeply in sore trial from with- 
out. Every earthly prop is cut away. What then ? Still 
underneath him are " the everlasting arms." He cannot fall 
so deep in distress and affliction but what the covenant grace 
of an ever-faithful God will still encircle him. The Christian 
may be sinking under trouble from within through fierce con- 
flict, but even then he cannot be brought so low as to be be- 
yond the reach of the " everlasting arms" — they are under- 
neath him ; and, while thus sustained, all Satan's efforts to 
harm avail nothing. 

This assurance of support is a comfort to any weary but 
earnest worker in the service of God. It implies a promise of 
strength for each day, grace for each need, and power for each 
duty. And, further, when death comes, the promise shall still 
hold good. When we stand in the midst of Jordan, we shall be 
able to say with David, " I will fear no evil, for Thou art with 
me." We shall descend into the grave, but we shall go no lower, 
for the eternal arms prevent our further fall. All through life, 
and at its close, we shall be upheld by the " everlasting arms " 
— arms that neither flag nor lose their strength, for "the 
everlasting God fainteth not, neither is weary." 



NOV. 12. DAILY HEADINGS. 317 

" The trial of your faith." — 1 Peter i. 7. 

^wgjjf^AITH untried may be true faith, but it is sure to 
be little faith, and it is likely to remain dwarfish so 
long as it is without trials. Faith never prospers 
sb well as when all things are against her ; tempests are 
her trainers, and lightnings are her illuminators. When 
a calm reigns on the sea, spread the sails as you will, the 
ship moves not to its harbor ; for, on a slumbering ocean, 
the keel sleeps too. Let the winds rush howling forth, and 
let the waters lift up themselves, then, though the vessel may 
rock, and her deck may be washed with waves, and Jier mast 
may creak under the pressure of the full and swelling sail, it 
is then that she makes headway towards her desired haven. 
No flowers wear so lovely a blue as those which grow at the 
foot of the frozen glacier ; no stars gleam so brightly as those 
which glisten in the polar sky ; no water tastes so sweet as 
that which springs amid the desert sand ; and no faith is so 
precious as that which lives and triumphs in adversity. Tried 
faith brings experience. You could not have believed your 
own weakness had you not been compelled to pass through the 
rivers ; and you would never have known Glod's strength had 
you not been supported amid the water-floods. Faith in- 
creases in solidity, assurance, and intensity, the more it is 
exercised with tribulation. Faith is precious, and its trial is 
precious too. 

Let not this, however, discourage those who are young in 
faith. You will have trials enough without seeking them ; 
the full portion will be measured out to you in due season. 
Meanwhile, if you cannot yet claim the result of long experi- 
ence, thank Grod for what grace you have ; praise Him for 
that degree of holy confidence whereunto you have attained ; 
walk according to that rule, and you shall yet have more and 
more of the blessing of Grod, till your faith shall remove 
mountains and conquer impossibilities. 
27* 



818 DAILY READINGS, Nov. 13. 

" The branch cannot bear fruit of itself." — John xv. 4. 




m 



JOW did you begin to bear fruit ? It was when you 
came to Jesus and cast yourself on His great 
atonement, and rested on His finished righteousness. 
Ah, what fruit you had then ! Do you remember those early 
days ? Then, indeed, the vine flourished, the tender grapes 
appeared, the pomegranates budded forth, and the beds of 
spices gave forth their smell. Have you declined since then ? 
If you have, we charge you to remember that time of love, 
and repent, and do thy first works. Be most in those engage- 
ments which you have experimentally proved to draw you near- 
est to Christ, because it is from Him that all your fruits pro- 
ceed. Any holy exercise which will bring you to Him will 
help you to bear fruit. The sun is, no doubt, a great worker 
in fruit- creating among the trees of the orchard ; and Jesus 
is still more so among the trees of His garden of grace. 
When have you been the most fruitless ? Has not it been 
when you have lived farthest from the Lord Jesus Christ, 
when you have slackened in prayer, when you have departed 
from the simplicity of your faith, when your graces have en- 
grossed your attention instead of your Lord, when you have 
said, " My mountain standeth firm, I shall never be moved ;" 
and have forgotten where your strength dwells — has not it 
been then that your fruit has ceased ? Some of us have been 
taught that we have nothing out of Christ, by terrible abase- 
ments of heart before the Lord ; and when we have seen the 
utter barrenness and death of all creature power, we have 
cried in anguish, " From Him all my fruit must be found, for 
no fruit can ever come from me." We are taught, by past 
experience, that the more simply we depend upon the grace 
of God in Christ, and wait upon the Holy Spirit, the more 
we shall bring forth fruit unto God. Oh, to trust Jesus for 
fruit as well as for life I 




NOV. 14. DAILY READINGS. 319 

" I will cut off them that worship and that swear by the Lord, and 
that swear by Malcham." — Zephaniah i. 5. 

§UCH persons thought themselves safe because they 
were with both parties : they went with the followers 
of Jehovah, and bowed at the same time to Malcham. 
But duplicity is abominable with God, and hypocrisy his 
soul hateth. The idolater who distinctly gives himself to his 
false god, has one sin less than he who brings his polluted 
and detestable sacrifice unto the temple of the Lord, while 
his heart is with the world and the sins thereof. To hold 
with the hare and run with the hounds, is a dastard's policy. 
In the common matters of daily life, a double-minded man is 
despised, but in religion he is loathsome to the last degree. 
The penalty pronounced in the verse before us is terrible, 
but it is well deserved ; for how should divine justice spare 
the sinner, who knows the right, approves it, and professes 
to follow it, and all the while loves the evil, and gives it 
dominion in his heart ? *" 

My soul, search thyself this morning, and see whether thou 
art guilty of double-dealing. Thou professest to be a fol- 
lower of Jesus — dost thou truly love Him ? Is thy heart 
right with God ? Art thou of the family of old Father Honest, 
or art thou a relative of Mr. By-ends ? A name to live is of 
little value if I be indeed dead in trespasses and sins. To 
have one foot on the land of truth, and another on the sea 
of falsehood, will involve a terrible fall, and a total ruin. 
Christ will be all or nothing. God fills the whole universe, 
and hence there is no room for another god ; if, then, He 
reigns in my heart, there will be no space for another reign- 
ing power. Do I rest alone on Jesus crucified, and live 
alone for Him ? Is it my desire to do so ? Is my heart set 
upon so doing ? If so, blessed be the mighty grace which 
has led me to salvation ; and if not so, O Lord, pardon my 
sad offence, and unite my heart to fear Thy name. 




320 DAILY HEADINGS. NOV. 15. 

" The Lord's portion is His people." — Deuteronomy xxxii. 9. 

J^jOW are they His ? By His own sovereign choice. 
™ He chose them, and set His love upon them. This 
He did altogether apart from any goodness in them 
at the time, or any goodness which He foresaw in them. He 
had mercy on whom He would have mercy, and ordained a 
chosen company unto eternal life ; thus, therefore, are they 
His by His unconstrained election. 

They are* not only His by choice, but by purchase. He 
has bought and paid for them to the utmost farthing ; hence* 
about His title there can be no dispute. Not with corrupti- 
ble things, as with silver and gold, but with the precious 
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord's portion has been 
fully redeemed. There is no mortgage on His estate ; no 
suits can be raised by opposing claimants ; the price was paid 
in open court, and the Church is the Lord's freehold forever. 
See the blood-mark upon all the chosen, invisible to human 
eye, but known to Christ, for " the Lord knoweth them that 
are His ; " He forgetteth none of those whom He has re- 
deemed from among men ; He counts the sheep for whom 
He laid down His life, and remembers well the Church for 
which He gave Himself. 

They are also His by conquest. What a battle He had in 
us before we would be won ! How long He laid siege to our 
hearts ! how often He sent us terms of capitulation ! but we 
barred our gates, and fenced our walls against Him. Do we 
not remember that glorious hour when He carried our hearts 
by storm ? when He placed His cross against the wall, and 
scaled our ramparts, planting on our strongholds the blood- 
red flag of His omnipotent mercy ? Yes, we are, indeed, the 
conquered captives of His omnipotent love. Thus chosen, 
purchased, and subdued, the rights of our diviue possessor are 
inalienable : we rejoice that we never can be our own ; and we 
desire, day by day, to do His will, and to show forth His glory. 



NOV. 16. DAILY HEADINGS. 321 

" The Lord is my portion, saith my soul." — Lam. iii. 24. 

JffiT is not " The Lord is partly my portion," nor " The 
^j Lord is in my portion ; " but He Himself makes up 
the sum total of my soul's inheritance. Within the 
circumference of that circle lies all that we possess or desire. 
The Lord is my portion. Not His grace merely, nor His 
love, nor His covenant, but Jehovah Himself. He has chosen 
us for His portion, and we have chosen Him for ours. It is 
true that the Lord must first choose our inheritance for us, 
or else we shall never choose it for ourselves ; but if we are 
really called according to the purpose of electing love, we 

can sing — 

" Loved of my God, for Him again 
With love intense I burn ; 
Chosen of Him ere time began, 
I choose Him in return." 

The Lord is our all-sufficient portion. God fills Himself; and 
if God is all-sufficient in Himself, He must be all-sufficient 
for us. It is not easy to satisfy man's desires. When he 
dreams that he is satisfied, anon he wakes to the perception 
that there is somewhat yet beyond, and straightway the 
horse-leech in his heart cries, " Give, give." But all that 
we can wish for is to be found in our divine portion, so that 
we ask, " Whom have I in heaven but Thee ? and there is 
nojie upon earth that I desire beside Thee." Well may we 
" delight ourselves in the Lord," who makes us to drink of 
the river of His pleasures. Our faith stretches her wings 
and mounts like an eagle into the heaven of divine love as 
to her proper dwelling-place. " The lines have fallen to us 
in pleasant places ; yea, we have a goodly heritage." Let 
us rejoice in the Lord always ; let us show to the world that 
we are a happy and a blessed people, and thus induce them 
to exclaim, " We will go with you, for we have heard that 
God is with you." 



322 DAILY HEADINGS. Nov. 17. 

" To whom be glory forever. Amen." — Romans xi. 36. 

W£&&SP whom be glory forever. This should be the single 
^flr-II ^ es ^ re °f * ne Christian. All other wishes must be 
8***8 subservient and tributary to this one. The Christian 
may wish for prosperity in his business, but only so far as it 
may help him to promote this — " To Him be glory forever." 
He may desire to attain more gifts and more graces, but it 
should only be that " to Him may be glory forever." You 
are not acting as you ought to do when you are moved by 
any other motive than a single eye to your Lord's glory. As 
a Christian, you are " of God, and through God ; " then live 
" to God." Let nothing ever set your heart beating so 
mightily as love to Him. Let this ambition fire your soul ; 
be this the foundation of every enterprise upon which you 
enter, and this your sustaining motive whenever your zeal 
would grow chill; make God your only object. Depend 
upon it, where self begins, sorrow begins ; but if God be my 
supreme delight and only object, 

" To me 'tis equal whether love ordain 
My life or death — appoint me ease or pain." 

Let your desire for God's glory be a growing desire. You 
blessed Him in your youth; do not be content with such 
praises as you gave Him then. Has God prospered you in 
business ? Give Him more as He has given you more. Has 
God given you experience ? Praise Him by stronger faith 
than you exercised at first. Does your knowledge grow? 
Then sing more sweetly. Do you enjoy happier times than 
you once had ? Have you been restored from sickness, and 
has your sorrow been turned into peace and joy ? Then give 
Him more music ; put more coals and more sweet frankin- 
cense into the censer of your praise. Practically in your 
life, give Him honor, putting the u Amen " to this doxology 
to your great and gracious Lord, by your own individual ser- 
vice and increasing holiness. 




NOV. 18. DAILY READINGS. 323 

" A spring shut up, a fountain sealed." — Canticles iv. 12. 

N this metaphor, which has reference to the inner life 
^ of a believer, we have very plainly the idea of secrecy. 
^ It is a spring shut up : just as there were springs in 
the East, over which an edifice was built, so that none could 
reach them save those who knew the secret entrance ; so is 
the heart of a believer when it is renewed by grace : there 
is a mysterious life within which no human skill can touch. 
It is a secret which no other man knoweth ; nay, which the 
very man who is the possessor of it cannot tell to his neigh- 
bor. The text includes not only secrecy, but separation. It 
is not the common spring, of which every passer-by may 
drink ; it is one kept and preserved from all others ; it is a 
fountain bearing a particular mark, — a king's royal seal, — so 
that all can perceive that it is not a common fountain, but a 
fountain owned by a proprietor, and placed specially by 
itself alone. So is it with the spiritual life. The chosen 
of God were separated in the eternal decree ; they were 
separated by God in the day of redemption ; and they are 
separated by the possession of a life which others have not ; 
and it is impossible for them to feel at home with the world, 
or to delight in its pleasures. There is also the idea of 
sacredness. The spring shut up is preserved for the use of 
some special person : and such is the Christian's heart. It 
is a spring kept for Jesus. Every Christian should feel that 
he has God's seal upon him — and he should be able to say 
with Paul, " From henceforth let no man trouble me, for I 
bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." Another 
idea is prominent — it is that of security. Oh! how sure 
and safe is the inner life of the believer ! If all the powers 
of earth and hell could combine against it, that immortal 
principle must still exist, for He who gave it pledged His 
life for its preservation. And who "is he that shall harm 
you," when God is your protector ? 



324 DAILY READINGS. Nov. 19. 

" Avoid foolish questions." — Titus iii. 9. 

j!^UB, days are few, and are far better spent in doing 
good than in disputing oyer matters which are, at 

^ ^ best, of minor importance. The old schoolmen did 
a world of mischief by their incessant discussion of subjects 
of no practical importance ; and our Churches suffer much 
from petty wars over abstruse points and unimportant ques- 
tions. After everything has been said that can be said, 
neither party is any the wiser, and therefore the discussion 
no more promotes knowledge than love, and it is foolish to 
sow in so barren a field. Questions upon points wherein 
Scripture is silent ; upon mysteries which belong to God 
alone ; upon prophecies of doubtful interpretation ; and upon 
mere modes of observing human ceremonials, are all foolish, 
and wise men avoid them. Our business is neither to ask 
nor answer foolish questions, but to avoid them altogether ; 
and if we observe the apostle's precept (Titus iiL 8) to be 
careful to maintain good works, we shall find ourselves far 
too much occupied with profitable business to take much 
interest in unworthy, contentious, and needless strivings. 

There are, however, some questions which are the reverse 
of foolish, which we must not avoid, but fairly and honestly 
meet, such as these : Do I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ ? 
Am I renewed in the spirit of my mind ? Am I walking, not 
after the flesh, but after the Spirit ? Am I growing in grace ? 
Does my conversation adorn the doctrine of God my Saviour? 
Am I looking for the coming of the Lord, and watching as 
a servant should do who expects his master ? What more 
can I do for Jesus ? Such inquiries as these urgently de- 
mand our attention ; and if we have been at all given to 
cavilling, let us now turn our critical abilities to a service so 
much more profitable. Let us be peacemakers, and endeavor 
to lead others, both by our precept and example, to " avoid 
foolish questions." 




NOV. 20. DAILY HEADINGS. 325 

" Lord, Thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul." — Lam. iii. 58. 

SUBSERVE how positively the prophet speaks. He 
doth not say, " I hope, I trust, I sometimes think, 
that God hath pleaded the causes of my soul ; " but 
he speaks of it as a matter of fact not to be disputed. 
" Thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul." Let us, by the 
aid of the gracious Comforter, shake off those doubts and 
fears which so much mar our peace and comfort. Be this 
our prayer, that we may have done with the harsh, croaking 
voice of surmise and suspicion, and may be able to speak 
with the clear, melodious voice of full assurance. Notice 
how gratefully the prophet speaks, ascribing all the glory to 
God alone ! You perceive there is not a word concerning 
himself or his own pleadings. He doth not ascribe his de- 
liverance in any measure to any man, much less to his own 
merit : but it is " Thou " — "0 Lord, Thou hast pleaded the 
causes of my soul ; Thou hast redeemed my life." A grate- 
ful spirit should ever be cultivated by the Christian ; and 
especially after deliverances we should prepare a song for 
our God. Earth should be a temple filled with the songs of 
grateful saints, and every day should be a censer smoking 
with the sweet incense of thanksgiving. How joyful Jere- 
miah seems to be while he records the Lord's mercy ! How 
triumphantly he lifts up the strain ! He has been in the low 
dungeon, and is even now no other than the weeping prophet; 
and yet in the very book which is called " Lamentations," 
clear as the song of Miriam when she dashed her fingers 
against the tabor, shrill as the note of Deborah when she 
met Barak with shouts of victory, we hear the voice of Jere- 
my going up to heaven — "Thou hast pleaded the causes 
of my soul ; Thou hast redeemed my life." children of 
God, seek after a vital experience of the Lord's loving- 
kindness, and when you have it, speak positively of it, sing 
gratefully, shout triumphantly. 
28 




326 DAILY HEADINGS. Nov. 21. 

" Grieve not the Holy Spirit." — Ephesians iv. 30. 

/^LL that the believer has must come from Christ, but 
S| it comes solely through the channel of the Spirit of 
all grace. Moreover, as all blessings thus flow to 
you through the Holy Spirit, so also no good thing can come 
out of you in holy thought, devout worship, or gracious act, 
apart from the sanctifying operation of the same Spirit. 
Even if the good seed be sown in you, yet it lies dormant 
except He worketh in you to will and to do of His own good 
pleasure. Do you desire to speak for Jesus — how can you 
unless the Holy Ghost touch your tongue ? Do you desire 
to pray ? Alas ! what dull work it is unless the Spirit maketh 
intercession for you ! Do you desire to subdue sin ? Would 
you be holy ? Would you imitate your Master ? Do you 
desire to rise to superlative heights of spirituality? Are 
you wanting to be made, like the angels of God, full of zeal 
and ardor for the Master's cause ? You cannot without the 
Spirit — "Without Me ye can do nothing." branch of 
the vine, thou canst have no fruit without the sap ! child 
of God, thou hast no life within thee apart from the life 
which God gives thee through His Spirit ! Then let us not 
grieve Him, or provoke Him to anger by our sin. Let us 
not quench Him in one of His faintest motions in our soul ; 
let us foster every suggestion, and be ready to obey every 
prompting. If the Holy Spirit be indeed so mighty, let us 
attempt nothing without Him ; let us begin no project, and 
carry on no enterprise, and conclude no transaction, without 
imploring His blessing. Let us do Him the due homage of 
feeling our entire weakness apart from Him, and then de- 
pending alone upon Him, having this for our prayer, " Open 
Thou my heart and my whole being to Thine incoming, and 
uphold me with Thy free Spirit when I shall have received 
that Spirit in my inward parts." 



NOV. 22. DAILY READINGS. 327 

"Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep." 
Hosea xii. 12. 

flf Z^ACOB, while expostulating with Laban, thus describes 
I jj his own toil: " This twenty years have I been with 
(-J^ thee. That which was torn of beasts I brought not 
unto thee : I bare the loss of it ; of my hand didst thou re- 
quire it, whether stolen by day, or stolen by night. Thus I 
was : in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by 
night ; and my sleep departed from mine eyes." Even more 
toilsome than this was the life of our Saviour here below. 
He watched over all His sheep till He gave in as His last 
account, " Of all those whom Thou hast given me, I have 
lost none." His hair was wet with dew, and His locks with 
the drops of the night. Sleep departed from His eyes, for 
all night He was in prayer, wrestling for His people. One 
night, Peter must be pleaded for ; anon, another claims His 
tearful intercession. No shepherd sitting beneath the cold 
skies, looking up to the stars, could ever utter such com- 
plaints, because of the hardness of his toil, as Jesus Christ 
might have brought, if He had chosen to do so, because of 
the sternness of His service in order to procure His spouse. 

" Cold mountains, and the midnight air, 
Witnessed the fervor of His prayer ; 
The desert His temptations knew, 
His conflict and His victory too." 

It is sweet to dwell upon the spiritual parallel of Laban 
having required all the sheep at Jacob's hand. If they were 
torn of beasts, Jacob must make it good ; if any of them died, 
he must stand as surety for the whole. Was not the toil of 
Jesus for His Church the toil of one who was under surety- 
ship obligations to bring every believing one safe to the hand 
of Him who had committed them to His charge ? Look upon 
toiling Jacob, and you see a representation of Him of whom 
we read, " He shall feed His flock like a shepherd." 




328 DAILY READINGS. Nov. 23. 

" Fellowship with Him." — 1 John i. 6. 

^HEN we were united by faith to Christ, we were brought 
into such complete fellowship with Him, that we were 
made one with Him, and His interests and ours be- 
came mutual and identical. We have fellowship with Christ 
in His love. What % He loves we love. He loves the saints 
— so do we. He loves sinners — so do we. He loves the 
poor perishing race of man, and pants to see earth's deserts 
transformed into the garden of the Lord — so do we. We 
have fellowship with Him in His desires. He desires the 
glory of God — we also labor for the same. He desires that 
the saints may be with Him where He is — we desire to be 
with Him there too. He desires to drive out sin — behold, 
we fight under His banner. He desires that His Father's 
name may be loved and adored by all His creatures — we 
pray daily, " Let Thy kingdom come, and Thy will be done 
on earth, even as it is in heaven." We have fellowship with 
Christ in His sufferings. We are not nailed to the cross, nor 
do we die a cruel death ; but when He is reproached, we are 
reproached ; and a very sweet thing it is to be blamed for 
His sake, to be despised for following the Master, to have 
the world against us. The disciple should not be above His 
Lord. In our measure we commune with Him in His labors, 
ministering to men by the word of truth and by deeds of love. 
Our meat and our drink, like His, is to do the will of Him 
who hath sent us, and to finish His work. We have also fel- 
lowship with Christ in His joys. We are happy in His hap- 
piness, we rejoice in His exaltation. Have you ever tasted 
that joy, believer ? There is no purer or more thrilling de- 
light to be known this side heaven than that of having Christ's 
joy fulfilled in us, that our joy may be full. His glory awaits 
us to complete our fellowship, for His Church shall sit with 
Him upon His throne, as His well-beloved bride and queen. 



NOV. 24. DAILY HEADINGS. 329 

" TJie glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and 
streams" — Isaiah xxxiii. 21. 

ftjftjftp&ROAD rivers and streams produce fertility, and abun- 
S>R^fe dance in the land. Places near broad rivers are re- 
x ^*^ £v rnarkable for the variety of their plants and their 
plentiful harvests. God is all this to His Church. Having 
God she has abundance. What can she ask for that He will 
not give her ? What want can she mention which He will not 
supply ? "In this mountain shall the Lord of Hosts make 
unto all people a feast of fat things." Want ye the bread 
of life ? It drops like manna from the sky. Want ye re- 
freshing streams ? The rock follows you, and that Rock is 
Christ. If you suffer any want, it is your own fault ; if you 
are straitened, you are not straitened in Him, but in your own 
bowels. Broad rivers and streams also point to commerce. 
Our glorious Lord is to us a place of heavenly merchandise. 
Through our Redeemer we have commerce with the past ; 
the wealth of Calvary, the treasures of the covenant, the 
riches of the ancient days of election, the stores of eternity, 
all come to us down the broad stream of our gracious Lord. 
We have commerce, too, with the future. What galleys, 
laden to the water's edge, come to us from the millennium ! 
What visions we have of the days of heaven upon earth ! 
Through our glorious Lord we have commerce with angels ; 
communion with the bright spirits washed in blood, who sing 
before the throne ; nay, better still, we have fellowship with 
the Infinite One. Broad rivers and streams are specially 
intended to set forth the idea of security. Rivers were of 
old a defence. Oh ! beloved, what a defence is God to His 
Church ! The devil cannot cross this broad river of God. 
How he wishes he could turn the current !" but fear not, for 
God abideth immutably the same. Satan may worry, but he 
cannot destroy us ; no galley with oars shall invade our river, 
neither shall gallant ship pass thereby. 
28 *' 



330 DAILY READINGS. Nov. 25. 

" To preach deliverance to the captives." — Luke iv. 18. 

jjSONE but Jesus can give deliverance to captives. 
"M Beal liberty cometh from Him only. It is a liberty 
"^ righteously bestowed; for the Son, who is Heir of all 
things, has a right to make men free. The saints honor the 
justice of God, which now secures their salvation. It is a 
liberty which has been dearly purchased. Christ speaks it by 
His power, but He bought it by His blood. He makes thee 
free, but it is by His own bonds. Thou goest clear, because 
He bare thy burden for thee : thou art set at liberty, because 
He has suffered in thy stead. But, though dearly purchased, 
Me freely gives it. Jesus asks nothing of us as a preparation 
for this liberty. He finds us sitting in sackcloth and ashes, 
and bids us put on the beautiful array of freedom ; He saves 
us just as we are, and all without our help or merit. When 
Jesus sets free, the liberty is perpetually entailed; no chains 
can bind again. Let the Master say to me, " Captive, I 
have delivered thee," and it is done forever. Satan may 
plot to enslave us, but if the Lord be on our side, whom shall 
we fear ? The world, with its temptations, may seek to en- 
snare us, but mightier is He who is for us than all they who 
be against us. The machinations of our own deceitful hearts 
may harass and annoy us, but He who hath begun the good 
work in us will carry it on and perfect it to the end. The 
foes of God and the enemies of man may gather their hosts 
together, and come with concentrated fury against us, but if 
God acquitteth, who is he that condemneth ? Not more free 
is the eagle which mounts to his rocky eyrie, and afterwards 
outsoars the clouds, than the soul which Christ hath delivered. 
If we are no more under the law, but free from its curse, let 
our liberty be practically exhibited in our serving God with 
gratitude and delight. " I am Thy servant, and the son of 
Thine handmaid : Thou hast loosed my bonds." " Lord, 
what wilt Thou have me to do ? " v 



NOV. 26. DAILY HEADINGS . 331 

" Wliat soever thy handjindeth to do, do it with thy might." 
Ecclesiastes ix. 10. 

«pj|SjHATSOEVER thy hand findeth to do, refers to works 
WoWw ^^ are P oss ^ e ' There are many things which our 
&&&&& heart findeth to do which we never shall do. It is 
well it is in our heart ; but if we would be eminently useful, 
we must not be content with forming schemes in our heart, 
and talking of them ; we must practically carry out " what- 
soever our hand findeth to do." One good deed is more worth 
than a thousand brilliant theories. Let us not wait for large 
opportunities, or for a different kind of work, but do just the 
things we " find to do " day by day. We have no other time in 
which to live. The past is gone ; the future has not arrived ; 
we never shall have any time but time present. Then do not 
wait until your experience has ripened into maturity before 
you attempt to serve God. Endeavor now to bring forth 
fruit. Serve God now, but be careful as to the way in which 
you perform what you find to do — " do it with thy might." 
Do it promptly ; do not fritter away your life in thinking of 
what you intend to do to-morrow, as if that could recompense 
for the idleness of to-day. No man ever served God by do- 
ing things to-morrow. If we honor Christ and are blessed, 
it is by the things which we do to-day. Whatever you do 
for Christ, throw your whole soul into it. Do not give Christ 
a little slurred labor, done as a matter of course now and 
then ; but when you do serve Him, do it with heart, and soul, 
and strength. 

But where is the might of a Christian ? It is not in him- 
self, for he is perfect weakness. His might lieth in the Lord 
of Hosts. Then let us seek His help ; let us proceed with 
prayer and faith, and when we have done what our " hand 
findeth to do," let us wait upon the Lord for His blessing. 
What we do thus will be well done, and will not fail in its 
effect. 




332 DAILY HEADINGS. Nov. 27. 

"Joshua, the high priest, standing before the angel of the Lord." 
Zechariah iii. 1. 

^N Joshua, the high priest, we see a picture of each and 
$Jj every child of God, who has been made nigh by the 
blood of Christ, and has been taught to minister in 
holy things, and enter into that which is within the veil. 
Jesus has made us priests and kings unto God, and even 
here upon earth we exercise the priesthood of consecrated 
living and hallowed service. But this high priest is said to 
be " standing before the angel of the Lord," that is, standing 
to minister. This should be the perpetual position of every 
true believer. Every place is now God's temple, and His 
people can as truly serve Him in their daily employments, 
as in His house. They are to be always " ministering," 
offering the spiritual sacrifice of prayer and praise, and pre- 
senting themselves a " living sacrifice." But notice where it 
is that Joshua stands to minister ; it is before the angel of 
Jehovah. It is only through a mediator that we poor defiled 
ones can ever become priests unto God. I present what I 
have before the messenger, the angel of the covenant, the 
Lord Jesus ; and through Him my prayers find acceptance 
wrapped up in His prayers ; my praises become sweet as they 
are bound up with bundles of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, 
from Christ's own garden. If I can bring Him nothing but 
my tears, He will put them with His own tears in His own 
bottle, for He once wept ; if I can bring Him nothing but my 
groans and sighs, He will accept these as an acceptable sacri- 
fice, for He once was broken in heart, and sighed heavily in 
spirit. I myself, standing in Him, am accepted in the Be- 
loved ; and all my polluted works, though in themselves only 
objects of divine abhorrence, are so received, that God 
smelleth a sweet savor. He is content, and I am blessed. 
See, then, the position of the Christian — "a priest — stand- 
ing — before the angel of the Lord." 




NOV. 28. DAILY READINGS. 333 

" For I rejoiced greatly when the brethren came and testified of 
the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth." 
3 John 3. 

gHE truth was in Gaius, and Graius walked in the truth. 
If the first had not been the case, the second could 
never have occurred ; and if the second could not have 
been said of him, the first would have been a mere pretence. 
Truth must enter into the soul, penetrate and saturate it, or 
else it is of no value. Doctrines held as a matter of creed, 
are like bread in the hand, which ministers no nourishment 
to the frame ; but doctrine accepted by the heart, is as food 
digested, which, by assimilation, sustains and builds up the 
body. In us truth must be a living force, an active energy, 
an indwelling reality, a part of the woof and warp of our be- 
ing. If it be in us, we cannot henceforth part with it. A 
man may lose his garments or his limbs, but his inward parts 
are vital, and cannot be torn away without absolute loss of 
life. A Christian can die, but he cannot deny the truth. 
Now, it is a rule of nature, that the inward affects the out- 
ward, as light shines from the centre of the lantern through 
the glass ; when, therefore, the truth is kindled within, its 
brightness soon beams forth in the outward life and conversa- 
tion. It is said that the food of certain worms colors the 
cocoons of silk which they spin ; and just so the nutriment 
upon which a man's inward nature lives, gives a tinge to 
every word and deed proceeding from him. To walk in the 
truth, imports a life of integrity, holiness, faithfulness, and 
simplicity — the natural product of those principles of truth 
which the gospel teaches, and which the Spirit of Grod en- 
ables us to receive. We may judge of the secrets of the 
goul by their manifestation in the man's conversation. Be it 
ours to-day, gracious Spirit, to be ruled and governed by 
Thy divine authority, so that nothing false or sinful may 
reign in our hearts, lest it extend its malignant influence 
to our daily walk among men. 




334 DAILY READINGS. Nov. 29. 

" Thou shalt not go up and down as a tale-bearer among thy 
people. . . Tlwu shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor, and 
not suffer sin upon him." — Leviticus xix. 16, 17. 

^ALE-BEARING- emits a threefold poison ; for it in- 
| jures the teller, the hearer, and the person concern- 
ing whom the tale is told. Whether the report be 
true or false, we are by this precept of God's Word forbidden 
to spread it. The reputations of the Lord's people should 
be very precious in our sight, and we should count it shame 
to help the devil to dishonor the Church and the name of the 
Lord. Some tongues need a bridle rather than a spur. 
Many glory in pulling down their brethren, as if thereby they 
raised themselves. Noah's wise sons cast a mantle over their 
father, and he who exposed him earned a fearful curse. We 
may ourselves, one of these dark days, need forbearance 
and silence from our brethren ; let us render it cheerfully to 
those who require it now. Be this our family rule, and our 
personal bond — Speak evil of no man. 

The Holy Spirit, however, permits us to censure sin, and 
prescribes the way in which we are to do it. It must be done 
by rebuking our brother to his face, not by railing behind his 
back. This course is manly, brotherly, Christ-like, and, 
under God's blessing, will be useful. Does the flesh shrink 
from it ? Then we must lay the greater stress upon our con- 
science, and keep ourselves to the work, lest by suffering sin 
upon our friend, we become ourselves partakers of it. Hun- 
dreds have been saved from gross sin by the timely, wise, 
affectionate warnings of faithful ministers and brethren. Our 
Lord Jesus has set us a gracious example of how to deal 
with erring friends in His warning given to Peter, the 
prayer with which He preceded it, and the gentle way in 
which He bore with Peter's boastful denial that he needed 
such a caution. 




NOV. 30. DAILY READINGS. 335 

"And Amazidh said to the man of God, But what shall we do for 
the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel ? 
And the man of God answered, The Lord is able to give thee 
much more than this." — 2 Chronicles xxv. 9. 

IKS VERY important question this seemed to be to the 
king of Judah, and possibly it is of even more weight 
with the tried and tempted Christian. To lose money 
is at no times pleasant, and when principle involves it, the 
flesh is not always ready to make the sacrifice. " Why lose 
that which may be so usefully employed ? May not truth 
itself be bought too dear ? What shall we do without it ? 
Remember the children, and our small income." All these 
things, and a thousand more, would tempt the Christian to 
put forth his hand to unrighteous gain, or stay himself from 
carrying out his conscientious convictions, when they involve 
serious loss. All men cannot view these matters in the light 
of faith ; and even with the followers of Jesus, the doctrine 
of " we must live" has quite sufficient weight. 

The Lord is able to give thee much more than this, is a very 
satisfactory answer to the anxious question. Our Father 
holds the purse-strings, and what we lose for His sake He 
can repay a thousand-fold. It is ours to obey His will, and 
we may rest assured that He will provide for us. The Lord 
will be no man's debtor at the last. Saints know that a 
grain of heart's-ease is of more value than a ton of gold. 
He who wraps a threadbare coat about a good conscience 
has gained a spiritual wealth far more desirable than any he 
has lost. Grod's smile and a dungeon are enough for a true 
heart ; His frown and a palace would be hell to a gracious 
spirit. Let the worst come to the worst, let all the talents 
go, we have not lost our treasure, for that is above, where 
Christ sitteth at the right hand of God. Meanwhile, even 
now, the Lord maketh the meek to inherit the earth, and no 
good thing doth He withhold from them that walk uprightly. 




336 DAILY HEADINGS. Dec. 1. 

" Thou hast made summer and winter" — Psalm lxxiv. 17. 

•Y soul, begin this wintry month with thy Grod. The 
cold snows and the piercing winds all remind thee 
that He keeps His covenant with day and night, and 
tend to assure thee that He will also keep that glorious 
covenant which He has made with thee in the person of 
Jesus Christ. He who is true to His Word in the revolu- 
tions of the seasons of this poor sin-polluted world, will not 
prove unfaithful in His dealings with His own well-beloved 
Son. 

Winter in the soul is by no means a comfortable season, 
and if it be upon thee just now, it will be very painful 
to thee : but there is this comfort, namely, that the Lord 
makes it. He sends the sharp blasts of adversity to nip the 
buds of expectation ; He scattereth the hoar-frost like ashes 
over the once verdant meadows of our joy ; He casteth forth 
His ice like morsels, freezing the streams of our delight. 
He does it all ; He is the great Winter King, and rules in 
the realms of frost, and therefore thou canst not murmur. 
Losses, crosses, heaviness, sickness, poverty, and a thousand 
other ills, are of the Lord's sending, and come to us with 
wise design. Frosts kill noxious insects, and put a bound 
to raging diseases ; they break up the clods, and sweeten 
the soil. that such good results would always follow our 
winters of affliction ! — How we prize the fire just now ! How 
pleasant is its cheerful glow ! Let us in the same manner 
prize our Lord, who is the constant source of warmth and 
comfort in every time of trouble. Let us draw nigh to 
Him, and in Him find joy and peace in believing. Let us 
wrap ourselves in the warm garments of His promises, and 
go forth to labors which befit the season ; for it were ill to 
be as the sluggard, who will not plough, by reason of the 
cold ; for he shall beg in summer, and have nothing. 




Dec. 2. DAILY READINGS. 337 

" Thou art all fair, my love" — Solomon's Song iv. 7. 

HE Lord's admiration of His Church is very wonder- 
|^ ful, and His description of her beauty is very glow- 
ing. She is not merely fair, but " all fair." He 
views her in Himself, washed in His sin-atoning blood, and 
clothed in His meritorious righteousness, and He considers 
her to be full of comeliness and beauty. No wonder that 
such is the case, since it is but His own perfect excellency 
that He admires, for the holiness, glory, and perfection of 
His Church are His own glorious garments on the back of 
His own well-beloved spouse. She is not simply pure, or 
well-proportioned ; she is positively lovely and fair ! She 
has actual merit ! Her deformities of sin are removed ; but 
more, she has through her Lord obtained a meritorious 
righteousness, by which an actual beauty is conferred upon 
her. Believers have a positive righteousness given to them 
when they become " accepted in the Beloved." (Eph. i. 6.) 
Nor is the Church barely lovely ; she is superlatively so. Her 
Lord styles her, " Thou fairest among women." She has a 
real worth and excellence, which cannot be rivalled by all 
the nobility and royalty of the world. If Jesus could ex- 
change His elect bride for all the queens and empresses of 
earth, or even for the angels in heaven, He would not, for 
He puts her first and foremost — " fairest among women." 
Like the moon, she far outshines the stars. Nor is this an 
opinion which He is ashamed of, for He invites all men to 
hear it. He sets a "behold" before it, a special note of 
exclamation, inviting and arresting attention. "Behold, 
thou art fair, my love ; behold, thou art fair." (Sol. Song 
iv. 1.) His opinion He publishes abroad even now, and 
one day, from the throne of His glory, He will avow the 
truth of it before the assembled universe. " Come, ye 
blessed of my Father," (Matt. xxv. 34,) will be His solemn 
affirmation of the loveliness of His elect. 
29 




338 daily headings. Dec. 3 

" There is no spot in thee." — Solomon's Song iv. 7. 

RAVING- pronounced His Church positively full of 
beauty, our Lord confirms His praise by a precious 
negative : " There is no spot in thee." As if the 
thought occurred to the Bridegroom that the carping world 
would insinuate that He had only mentioned her comely 
parts, and had purposely omitted those features which were 
deformed or defiled, He sums up all by declaring her uni- 
versally and entirely fair, and utterly devoid of stain. A 
spot may soon be removed, and is the very least thing that 
can disfigure beauty ; but even from this little blemish the 
believer is delivered in his Lord's sight. If He had said 
there ig no hideous scar, no horrible deformity, no deadly 
ulcer, we might even then have marvelled ; but when He 
testifies that she is free from the slightest spot, all these 
other forms of defilement are included, and the depth of 
wonder is increased. If He had but promised to remove all 
spots by-and-by, we should have had eternal reason for joy; 
but when He speaks of it as already done, who can restrain 
the most intense emotions of satisfaction and delight ? 
my soul, here is marrow and fatness for thee ; eat thy full, 
and be satisfied with royal dainties. Christ Jesus has no 
quarrel with His spouse. She often wanders from Him, and 
grieves His Holy Spirit, but He does not allow Her faults to 
affect His love. He sometimes chides, but it is always in 
the tenderest manner, with the kindest intentions : it is "my 
love," even then. There is no remembrance of our follies ; 
He does not cherish ill thoughts of us, but He pardons, and 
loves as well after the offence as before it. It is well for us 
it is so, for if Jesus were as mindful of injuries as we are, 
how could He commune with us ? Many a time a believer 
will put himself out of humor with the Lord for some slight 
turn in providence, but our precious Husband knows our 
silly hearts too well to take any offence at our ill manners. 




Dec. 4. DAILY READINGS. 339 

"I have much people in this city" — Acts xviii. 10. 

^;HIS should be a great encouragement to try to do 
@ good, since God has among the vilest of the vile, the 
most reprobate, the most debauched and drunken, 
an ele"ct people who must be saved. When you take the 
Word to them, you do so because God has ordained you to 
be the messenger of life to their souls, and they must receive 
it, for so the decree of predestination runs. They are as 
much redeemed by blood as the saints before the eternal 
throne. They are Christ's property ; and yet perhaps they 
are lovers of the ale-house and haters of holiness ; but if 
Jesus Christ purchased them He will have them. God is 
not unfaithful, to forget the price which His Son has paid. 
He will not suffer His substitution to be in any case an in- 
effectual, dead thing. Tens of thousands of redeemed ones 
are not regenerated yet, but regenerated they must be ; and 
this is our comfort when we go forth to them with the quick- 
ening Word of God. Nay, more, these ungodly ones are 
prayed for by Christ before the throne. " Neither pray I 
for these alone," saith the great Intercessor ; " but for them 
also which shall believe on Me through their word." Poor, 
ignorant souls, they know nothing about prayer for them- 
selves, but Jesus prays for them. Their names are on his 
breastplate, and ere long they must bow their stubborn knee, 
breathing the penitential sigh before the throne of grace. 
" The time of figs is not yet." The predestinated moment 
has not struck ; but, when it comes, they shall obey, for God 
will have His own ; they must, for the Spirit is not to be 
withstood when He cometh forth with fulness of power — 
they must become the willing servants of the living God. 
"My people shall be willing in the day of My power." "He 
shall justify many." " He shall see of the travail of His 
soul." " I will divide him a portion with the great, and He 
shall divide the spoil with the strong." 



340 DAILY READINGS. Dec. 5. 

" Ask, and it shall be given you." — Matthew vii. 7. 

^E know of a place in England, still existing, where a 
'iljM dole of bread is served to every passer-by who 
Q ~ e *> chooses to ask for it. Whoever the traveller may 
be, he has but to knock at the door of St. Cross Hospital, 
and there is the dole of bread for him. Jesus Christ so lov- 
eth sinners that He has built a St. Cross Hospital, so that 
whenever a sinner is hungry, he has but to knock and have 
his wants supplied. Nay, He has done better ; He has at- 
tached to this Hospital of the Cross a bath ; and whenever a 
soul is black and filthy, it has but to go there and be washed. 
The fountain is always full, always efficacious. No sinner 
ever went into it and found that it could not wash away his 
stains. Sins which were scarlet and crimson have all disap- 
peared, and the sinner has been whiter than snow. As if 
this were not enough, there is attached to this Hospital of 
the Cross a wardrobe, and a sinner, making application 
simply as a sinner, may be clothed from head to foot ; and 
if he wishes to be a soldier, he may not merely have a gar- 
ment for ordinary wear, but armor which shall cover him 
from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. If he 
asks for a sword, he shall have that given to him, and a 
shield too. Nothing that is good for him shall be denied 
him. He shall have spending money so long as he lives ; 
and he shall have an eternal heritage of glorious treasure 
when he enters into the joy of his Lord. — If all these things 
are to be had by merely knocking at mercy's door, O my 
soul, knock hard this morning, and ask large things of thy 
generous Lord. Leave not the throne of grace till all thy 
wants have been spread before the Lord, and until by faith 
thou hast a comfortable prospect that they shall be all sup- 
plied. No bashfulness need retard when Jesus invites. No 
unbelief should hinder when Jesus promises. No cold-hearted- 
ness should restrain, when such blessings are to be obtained. 




Dec. 6. DAILY READINGS. 341 

" As is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly" 
1 Corinthians xv. 48. 

ggHE head and members are of one nature, and not like 
that monstrous image which Nebuchadnezzar saw in 
his dream. The head was of fine gold, but the belly 
and thighs were of brass, the legs of iron, and the feet, part 
of iron and part of clay. Christ's mystical body is no absurd 
combination of opposites ; the members were mortal, and 
therefore Jesus died ; the glorified head is immortal, and 
therefore the body is immortal too, for thus the record 
stands : " Because I live, ye shall live also." As is our lov- 
ing head, such is the body, and every member in particular. 
A chosen Head, and chosen members ; an accepted Head, 
and accepted members .; a living Head, and living members. 
If the head be pure gold, all the parts of the body are of 
pure gold also. Thus is there a double union of nature as a 
basis for the closest communion. Pause here, devout reader, 
and see if thou canst, without ecstatic amazement, contem- 
plate the infinite condescension of the Son of God in thus 
exalting thy wretchedness into blessed union with His 
glory. Thou art so mean that, in remembrance of thy mor- 
tality, thou mayst say to corruption, " Thou art my father,'* 
and to the worm, " Thou art my sister ; " and yet in Christ 
thou art so honored that thou canst say to the Almighty, 
" Abba, Father," and to the Incarnate Grod, " Thou art my 
brother and my husband." Surely if relationships to ancient 
and noble families make men think highly of themselves, we 
have whereof to glory over the heads of them all. Let the 
poorest and most despised believer lay hold upon this privi- 
lege ; let not a senseless indolence make him negligent to 
trace his pedigree, and let him suffer no foolish attachment 
to present vanities to occupy his thoughts to the exclusion 
of this glorious, this heavenly honor of union with Christ. 
29* 




842 DAILY READINGS. Dec. 7. 

" Base things of the world hath God chosen." — 1 Cor. i. 28. 

i^EjALK the streets by moonlight, if you dare, and you 
will see sinners then. Watch when the night is 
dark, and the wind is howling, and the picklock is 
grating in the door, and you will see sinners then. Go to 
yon jail, and walk through the wards, and mark the men 
with heavy, over-hanging brows, men whom you would not 
like to meet at night, and there are sinners there. Go to 
the reformatories, and note those who have betrayed a ram- 
pant juvenile depravity, and you will see sinners there. Go 
across the seas to a place where a man will gnaw a bone 
upon which is reeking human flesh, and there is a sinner 
there. Go where you will, you need not ransack earth to 
find sinners, for they are common enough ; you may find them 
in every lane and street of every city, and town, and village, 
and hamlet. It is for such that Jesus died. If you will se- 
lect me the grossest specimen of humanity, if he be but born 
of woman, I will have hope of him yet, because Jesus Christ 
is come to seek and to save sinners. Electing love has se- 
lected some of the worst to be made the best. Pebbles of 
the brook grace turns into jewels for the crown-royal. 
Worthless dross He transforms into pure gold. Redeeming 
love has set apart many of the worst of mankind to be the 
reward of the Saviour's passion. Effectual grace calls forth 
many of the vilest of the vile to sit at the table of mercy, and 
therefore let none despair. 

Reader, by that love looking out of Jesus' tearful eyes ; by 
that love streaming from those bleeding wounds ; by that 
faithful love, that strong love, that pure, disinterested, and 
abiding love ; by the heart and by the bowels of the Saviour's 
compassion, we conjure you, turn not away as though it 
were nothing to you ; but believe on Him, and you shall be 
saved. Trust your soul with Him, and He will bring you to 
His Father's right hand in glory everlasting. 



Dec. 8. DAILY READINGS. 343 

" Tliou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled 
their garments ; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they 
are worthy." — Revelation iii. 4. 

|^|^E may understand this to refer to justification. " They 

mfm shall walk in white ; " that is, they shall enjoy a con- 
stant sense of their own justification by faith ; they 
shall understand that the righteousness of Christ is imputed 
to them ; that they have all been washed and made whiter 
than the newly-fallen snow. 

Again, it refers to joy and gladness ; for white robes were 
holiday dresses among the Jews. They who have not defiled 
their garments shall have their faces always bright ; they 
shall understand what Solomon meant when He said, " Go 
thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a 
merry heart. Let thy garments be always white, for God 
hath accepted thy works." He who is accepted of God shall 
wear white garments of joy and gladness, while he walks in 
sweet communion with the Lord Jesus. Whence so many 
doubts, so much misery and mourning ? It is because so 
many believers defile their garments with sin and error; and 
hence they lose the joy of their salvation, and the comfort- 
able fellowship of the Lord Jesus ; they do not here below 
walk in white. 

The promise also refers to walking in white before the throne 
of God. Those who have not defiled their garments here, 
shall most certainly walk in white up yonder, where the white- 
robed hosts sing perpetual hallelujahs to the Most High. 
They shall possess joys inconceivable, happiness beyond a 
dream, bliss which imagination knoweth not, blessedness 
which even the stretch of desire hath not reached. The 
" undefiled in the way" shall have all this — not of merit, 
nor of works, but of grace. They shall walk with Christ in 
white, for He has made them " worthy." In His sweet com- 
pany they shall drink of the living fountains of waters. 



344 DAILY READINGS. Dec. 9. 

" Therefore will the Lord icait, that He may be gracious unto you." 
Isaiah xxx. 18. 

^OD often delays in answering prayer. We have 

ff3\\n€ 




several instances of this in sacred Scripture. Jacob 
did not get the blessing from the angel until near the 
dawn of day — he had to wrestle all night for it. The poor 
woman of Syrophenicia was answered not a word for a long 
while. Paul besought the Lord thrice that " the thorn in the 
flesh" might be taken from him, and he received no assur- 
.ance that it should be taken away, but instead thereof a 
promise that God's grace should be sufficient for him. If 
thou hast been knocking at the gate of mercy, and hast re- 
ceived no answer, shall I tell thee why the mighty Maker hath 
not opened the door and let thee in ? Our Father has rea- 
sons peculiar to Himself for thus keeping us waiting. Some- 
times it is to show His power, and His sovereignty, that men 
may know that Jehovah has a right to give or to withhold. 
More frequently the delay is for our profit. Thou art per- 
haps kept waiting in order that thy desires may be more fer- 
vent. God knows that delay will quicken and increase 
desire, and that if He keeps thee waiting thou wilt see thy 
necessity more clearly, and wilt seek more earnestly ; and 
that thou wilt prize the mercy all the more for its long tarry- 
ing. There may also be something wrong in thee which has 
need to be removed, before the joy of the Lord is given. 
Perhaps thy views of the Gospel plan are confused, or thou 
mayst be placing some little reliance on thyself, instead of 
trusting simply and entirely to the Lord Jesus. Or, God 
makes thee tarry awhile that He may the more fully display 
the riches of His grace to thee at last. Thy prayers are all 
filed in heaven, and if not immediately answered, they are 
certainly not forgotten, but in a little while shall be fulfilled 
to thy delight and satisfaction. Let not despair make thee 
silent, but continue instant in earnest supplication. 




Dec. 10. DAILY READINGS. 345 

" So shall we ever be with the Lord." — 1 Thess. iv. 17. 

ip)VEN the sweetest visits from Christ, how short they 
are — and how transitory ! One moment our eyes see 
Him, and we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of 
glory, but again a little time and we do not see Him, for our 
Beloved withdraws Himself from us ; like a roe or a young 
hart he leaps over the mountains of division ; He is gone to 
the land of spices, and feeds no more among the lilies. 

" If to-day He deigns to bless us 
"With a sense of pardoned sin, 
He to-morrow may distress us, 
Make us feel the plague within." 

Oh, how sweet the prospect of the time when we shall not 
behold Him at a distance, but see Him face to face ! when 
He shall not be as a wayfaring man tarrying but for a night, 
but shall eternally enfold us in the bosom of His glory ! We 
shall not see Him for a little season, but 

"Millions of years our wondering eyes 
Shall o'er our Saviour's beauties rove, 
And myriad ages we'll adore 
The wonders of His love." 

In heaven there shall be no interruptions from care or sin ; 
no weeping shall dim our eyes ; no earthly business shall 
distract our happy thoughts ; we shall have nothing to hin- 
der us from gazing forever on the Sun of Righteousness with 
unwearied eyes. Oh, if it be so sweet to see Him now and 
then, how sweet to gaze on that blessed face for aye, and 
never have a cloud rolling between, and never have to turn 
one's eyes away to look on a world of weariness and woe ! 
Blest day, when wilt thou dawn ? Rise, unsetting sun ! 
The joys of sense may leave us as soon as they will, for this 
shall make glorious amends. If to die is but to enter into 
uninterrupted communion with Jesus, then death is indeed 
gain, and the black drop is swallowed up in a sea o- /.cfco/y. 



346 DAILY READINGS. Dec. 11. 

"Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it." 
1 Thessalonians v. 24. 

|5§||jpEAVEN is a place where we shall never sin ; where 



m 



we shall cease our constant watch against an inde- 
fatigable enemy, because there will be no tempter to 
insnare our feet. There the wicked cease from troubling, 
and the weary are at rest. Heaven is the " undefiled inher- 
itance ;" it is the land of perfect holiness, and therefore of 
complete security. But do not the saints even on earth 
sometimes taste the joys of blissful security ? The doctrine 
of God's word is, that all who are in union with the Lamb 
are safe ; that all the righteous shall hold on their way ; that 
those who have committed their souls to the keeping of Christ 
shall find Him a faithful and immutable preserver. Sustained 
by such a doctrine, we can enjoy security even on earth ; not 
that high and glorious security which renders us free from 
every slip, but that holy security which arises from the sure 
promise of Jesus that none who believe in Him shall ever 
perish, but shall be with Him where He is. Believer, let us 
often reflect with joy on the doctrine of the perseverance of 
the saints, and honor the faithfulness of our God by a holy 
confidence in Him. 

May our God bring home to you a sense of your safety in 
Christ Jesus. May He assure you that your name is graven 
on His hand, and whisper in your ear the promise, " Fear 
not, I am with thee." Look upon Him, the great Surety of 
the covenant, as faithful and true, and, therefore, bound and 
engaged to present you, the weakest of the family, with all 
the chosen race, before the throne of God ; and in such a 
sweet contemplation you will drink the juice of the spiced 
wine of the Lord's pomegranate, and taste the dainty fruits 
of Paradise. You will have an antepast of the enjoyments 
which ravish the souls of the perfect saints above, if you can 
believe with unstaggering faith that " faithful is He that 
calleth you, who also will do it." 




Dec. 12. DAILY HEADINGS. 347 

" His ways are everlasting." — Habakkuk iii. 5. 

|jj|HAT He hath done at one time, He will do yet again. 
Man's ways are variable, but Grod's ways are ever- 
lasting. There are many reasons for this most com- 
forting truth : among them are the following — the Lord's 
ways are the result of wise deliberation ; He Ordereth all things 
according to the counsel of His own will. Human action is 
frequently the hasty result of passion or fear, and is followed 
by regret and alteration ; but nothing can take the Almighty 
by surprise, or happen otherwise than He has foreseen. His 
ways are the outgrowth of an immutable character, and in them 
the fixed and settled attributes of Grod are clearly to be seen. 
Unless the Eternal One Himself can undergo change, His 
ways, which are Himself in action, must remain forever the 
same. Is He eternally just, gracious, faithful, wise, tender ? 
— then His ways must ever be distinguished for the same ex- 
cellences. Beings act according to their nature : when those 
natures change, their conduct varies also ; but since Grod can- 
not know the shadow of a turning, His ways will abide ever- 
lastingly the same. Moreover there is no reason from without 
which could reverse the divine ways, since they are the em- 
bodiment of irresistible might. The earth is said, by the 
prophet, to be cleft with rivers, mountains tremble, the deep 
lifts up its hands, and sun and moon stand still, when Jehovah 
marches forth for the salvation of His people. Who can 
stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest Thou ? But it 
is not might alone which gives stability ; God's- way are the 
manifestations of the eternal principles of right, and therefore 
can never pass away. Wrong breeds decay and involves 
ruin, but the true and the good have about them a vitality 
which ages cannot diminish. 

This morning let us go to our heavenly Father with confi- 
dence, remembering that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, 
to-day, and forever, and in Him the Lord is ever gracious to 
His people. 




348 DAILY HEADINGS. Dec. 13. 

" Salt, without prescribing how much." — Ezra vii. 22. 

jALT was used in every offering made by fire unto the 
jw Lord, and from its preserving and purifying proper- 
ties it was the grateful emblem of divine grace in the 
soul. It is worthy of our attentive regard that, when Artax- 
erxes gave salt to Ezra the priest, he set no limit to the 
quantity ; and we may be quite certain that when the King of 
kings distributes grace among His royal priesthood, the sup- 
ply is not cut short by Him. Often are we straitened in our- 
selves, but never in the Lord. He who chooses to gather 
much manna will find that he may have as much as he desires. 
There is no such famine in Jerusalem that the citizens should 
eat their bread by weight and drink their water by measure. 
Some things in the economy of grace are measured ; for in- 
stance, our vinegar and gall are given us with such exactness 
that we never have a single drop too much, but of the salt of 
grace no stint is made : " Ask what thou wilt, and it shall be 
given unto thee." Parents need to lock up the fruit cup- 
board, and the sweet jars, but there is no need to keep the 
salt-box under lock and key, for few children will eat too 
greedily from that. A man may have too much money, or 
too much honor, but he cannot have too much grace. When 
Jeshurun waxed fat in the flesh, he kicked against God ; but 
there is no fear of a man's becoming too full of grace; & plethora 
of grace is impossible. More wealth brings more care, but 
more grace brings more joy. Increased wisdom is increased 
sorrow, but abundance of the Spirit is fulness of joy. Be- 
liever, go to the throne for a large supply of heavenly salt. 
It will season thine afflictions, which are unsavory without 
salt ; it will preserve thy heart, which corrupts if salt be 
absent ; and it will kill thy sins even as salt kills reptiles. 
Thou needest much ; seek much, and have much. 




Dec. 14. DAILY READINGS. 349 

" They go from strength to strength" — Psalm lxxxiv. 7. 

^HEY go from strength to strength. There are various 
renderings of these words, but all of them contain 
the idea of progress. 
Our own good translation of the authorized version is 
enough for us this morning. " They go from strength to 
strength." That is, they grow stronger and stronger. Usu- 
ally, if we are walking, we go from strength to weakness ; 
we start fresh and in good order for our journey ; but by and 
by the road is rough, and the sun is hot; we sit down by the 
wayside, and then again painfully pursue our weary way. 
But the Christian pilgrim, having obtained fresh supplies of 
grace, is as vigorous after years of toilsome travel and strug- 
gle as when he first set out. He may not be quite so elate 
and buoyant, nor perhaps quite so hot and hasty in his zeal, 
as he once was ; but he is much stronger, in all that consti- 
tutes real power, and travels, if more slowly, far more surely. 
Some gray-haired veterans have been as firm in their grasp 
of truth, and as zealous in diffusing it, as they were in their 
younger days ; but, alas, it must be confessed it is often 
otherwise, for the love of many waxes cold, and iniquity 
abounds ; but this is their own sin, and not the fault of the 
promise, which still holds good : " The youths shall faint and 
be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall ; but they that 
wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength ; they shall 
mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be 
weary, and they shall walk and not faint." Fretful spirits sit 
down and trouble themselves about the future. " Alas," say 
they, " we go from affliction to affliction." Yery true, 
thou of little faith, but then thou goest from strength to 
strength also. Thou shalt never find a bundle of affliction 
which has not bound up in the midst of it sufficient grace. 
G-od will give the strength of ripe manhood with the burden 
allotted to full-grown shoulders. 
30 



350 DAILY HEADINGS. Dec. 15. 

" Qrpah kissed her mother-in-law ; but Ruth clave unto her" 
Ruth i. 14. 

^£^60TH of them had an affection for Naomi, and there- 

r'f-$fc ^ ore se * ou ^ w *^ ^ er u P on ner re ^ urn to the land of 
•^W^. j a( j a } 1# g u t the hour of test came ; Naomi most 

unselfishly set before each of them the trials which awaited 
them, and bade them, if they cared for ease and comfort, to 
return to their Moabitish friends. At first both of them de- 
clared that they would cast in their lot with the Lord's people ; 
but, upon still further consideration, Orpah, with much grief 
and a respectful kiss, left her mother-in-law, and her people, 
and her Grod, and went back to her idolatrous friends, while 
Ruth, with all her heart, gave herself up to the God of her 
mother-in-law. It is one thing to love the ways of the Lord 
when all is fair, and quite another to cleave to them under all 
discouragements and difficulties. The kiss of outward pro- 
fession is very cheap and easy, but the practical cleaving to 
the Lord which must show itself in holy decision for truth 
and holiness, is not so small a matter. How stands the case 
with us ? is our heart fixed upon Jesus ? is the sacrifice bound 
with cords to the horns of the altar ? Have we counted the 
cost, and are we solemnly ready to suffer all worldly loss for 
the Master's sake ? The after gain will be an abundant rec- 
ompense, for Egypt's treasures are not to be compared with 
the glory to be revealed. Orpah is heard of no more ; in 
glorious ease and idolatrous pleasure, her life melts into the 
gloom of death ; but Ruth lives in history and in heaven, for 
grace has placed her in the noble line whence sprung the 
King of kings. Blessed among women shall those be who for 
Christ's sake can renounce all ; but forgotten, and worse than 
forgotten, shall those be, who, in the hour of temptation, do 
violence to conscience, and turn back unto the world. that 
this morning we may not be content with the form of devotion, 
which may be no better than Orpah's kiss ! but may the Holy 
Spirit work in us a cleaving of our whole heart to our Lord Jesus. 




Dec. 16. DAILY READINGS. 351 

" Come unto Me." —Matthew xi. 28. 

PHE Cry of the Christian religion is the gentle word, 
" Come." The Jewish law harshly said, " Gro, take 
heed unto thy steps as to the path in which thou shalt 
walk. Break the commandments, and thou shalt perish ; 
keep them, and thou shalt live." The law was a dispensa- 
tion of terror, which drove men before it as with a scourge ; 
the gospel draws with bands of love. Jesus is the good 
Shepherd going before His sheep, bidding them follow Him, 
and ever leading them onwards with the sweet word, " Come." 
The law repels ; the gospel attracts. The law shows the dis- 
tance which there is between God and man ; the gospel 
bridges that awful chasm, and brings the sinner across it. 

From the first moment of your spiritual life until you are 
ushered into glory, the language of Christ to you will be, 
" Come, come unto Me." As a mother puts out her finger to her 
little child, and wooes it to walk by saying, " Come," even so 
does Jesus. He will always be ahead of you, bidding you 
follow Him as the soldier follows his captain. He will always 
go before you to pave your way, and clear your path, and 
you shall hear His animating voice calling you after Him all 
through life ; while in the solemn hour of death, His sweet 
words with which He shall usher you into the heavenly world 
shall be — " Come, ye blessed of my Father." 

Nay, further, this is not only Christ's cry to you, but, if you 
be a believer, this is your cry to Christ — " Come ! come ! " 
You will be longing for His second advent ; you will be say- 
ing, " Come quickly; «ven so, come, Lord Jesus." You will 
be panting for nearer and closer communion with Him. As 
His voice to you is, " Come," your response to Him will be, 
" Come, Lord, and abide with me. Come, and occupy alone 
the throne of my heart ; reign there without a rival, and 
consecrate me entirely to Thy service." 



352 DAILY READINGS. Dec. 17. 

" i" remember thee" — Jeremiah ii. 2. 

|MKET us note that Christ delights to think upon His 
§H Church, and to look upon her beauty. As the bird 
returneth often to its nest, and as the wayfarer has- 
tens to his home, so doth the mind continually pursue the 
object of its choice. We cannot look too often upon that 
face which we love ; we desire always to have our precious 
things in our sight. It is even so with our Lord Jesus. 
From all eternity, " His delights were with the sons of 
men ; " His thoughts rolled onward to the time when His 
elect should be born into the world ; He viewed them in the 
mirror of His foreknowledge. " In Thy book," he says, 
" all my members were written, which in continuance were 
fashioned, when as yet there was none of them." (Ps. cxxxix. 
16.) When the world was set upon its pillars, He was there, 
and He set the bounds of the people according to the num- 
ber of the children of Israel. Many a time before His incar- 
nation, He descended to this lower earth in the similitude 
of a man ; on the plains of Mamre (Gren. xviii.), by the brook 
of Jabbok (Gren. xxxii. 24-30), beneath the walls of Jericho 
(Josh. v. 13), and in the fiery furnace of Babylon (Dan. iii. 
19-25), the Son of man visited His people. Because His 
soul delighted in them, He could not rest away from them, 
for His heart longed after them. Never were they absent 
from His heart, for He had written their names upon His 
hands, and graven them upon His side. As the breastplate 
containing the names of the tribes of Israel was the most 
brilliant ornament worn by the high priest, so the names 
of Christ's elect were His most precious jewels, and glittered 
on His heart. We may often forget to meditate upon the 
perfections of our Lord, but He never ceases to remember 
us. Let us chide ourselves for past forgetfulness, and pray 
for grace ever to bear Him in fondest remembrance. Lord, 
paint upon the eyeballs of my soul the image of Thy Son. 




Dec. 18. DAILY READINGS. 353 

"Rend your heart, and not your garments" — Joel ii. 13. 

ARMENT-RENDING, and other outward signs of 
«, religious emotion, are easily manifested, and are fre- 
'-*** quently hypocritical : but to feel true repentance is 
far more difficult, and consequently far less common. Men 
will attend to the most multiplied and minute ceremonial 
regulations, — for such things sly e pleasing to the flesh, — but 
true religion is too humbling, too heart-searching, too 
thorough for the tastes of carnal men ; they prefer something 
more ostentatious, flimsy, and worldly. Outward observances 
are temporarily comfortable ; eye and ear are pleased ; self- 
conceit is fed, and self-righteousness is puffed up : but they 
are ultimately delusive, for in the article of death, and at the 
day of judgment, the soul needs something more substantial 
than ceremonies and rituals to lean upon. Apart from vital 
godliness, all religion is utterly vain ; offered without a sin- 
cere heart, every form of worship is a solemn sham and an 
impudent mockery of the majesty of heaven. — Heart-rend- 
ing is divinely wrought and solemnly felt. It is a secret 
grief which is personally experienced, not in mere form, but 
as a deep, soul-moving work of the Holy Spirit upon the in- 
most heart of each believer. It is not a matter to be merely 
talked of and believed in, but keenly and sensitively felt in 
every living child of the living God. It is powerfully hu- 
miliating, and completely sin-purging ; but then it is sweetly 
preparative for those gracious consolations which proud, 
unhumbled spirits are unable to receive ; and it is distinctly 
discriminating, for it belongs to the elect of God, and to 
them alone. The text commands us to rend our hearts, but 
they are naturally hard as marble : how, then, can this be 
done ? We must take them to Calvary : a dying Saviour's 
voice rent the rocks once, and it is as powerful now. 
blessed Spirit, let us hear the death-cries of Jesus, and our 
hearts shall be rent even as men rend their vestures in the 
day of lamentation. 
30* 




354 DAILY READINGS. Dec. 19. 

" The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of 
the Lord" — Proverbs xvi. 33. 

SJkF the disposal of the lot is the Lord's, whose is the 
1^ arrangement of our whole life ? If the simple cast- 
ing of a lot is guided by Him, how much more the 
events of our entire life — especially when we are told by 
our blessed Saviour, " The very hairs of your head are all 
numbered : not a sparrow falleth to the ground without your 
Father." It would bring a holy calm over your mind, dear 
friend, if you were always to remember this. It would so 
relieve your mind from anxiety, that you would be the better 
able to walk in patience, quiet, and cheerfulness, as a Chris- 
tian should. When a man is anxious, he cannot pray with 
faith ; when he is troubled about the world, he cannot serve 
his Master ; his thoughts are serving himself. If you would 
"seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness," all 
things would then be added unto you. You are meddling 
with Christ's business, and neglecting your own, when you 
fret about your lot and circumstances. You have been try- 
ing "providing" work, and forgetting that it is yours to 
obey. Be wise, and attend to the obeying, and let Christ 
manage the providing. Come and survey your Father's 
storehouse, and ask whether He will let you starve while He 
has laid up so great an abundance in His garner. Look at 
His heart of mercy ; see if that can ever prove unkind ! 
Look at His inscrutable wisdom ; see if that will ever be at 
fault. Above all, look up to Jesus Christ, your Intercessor, 
and ask yourself, while He pleads, can your Father deal un- 
graciously with you ? If He remembers even sparrows, will 
He forget one of the least of His poor children ? " Cast 
thy burden upon the Lord, and He will sustain thee. He 
will never suffer the righteous to be moved." 

" My soul, rest happy in thy low estate, 
Nor hope nor wish to be esteemed or great ; 
To take the impress of the "Will Divine, 
Be that thy glory, and those riches thine. 




Dec. 20. DAILY HEADINGS. 355 

" Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love." — Jer. xxxi. 3. 

SOMETIMES the Lord Jesus tells His Church His 
jS love thoughts. " He does not think it enough be- 
hind her back to tell it, but, in her very presence, 
He says, ' Thou art all fair, my love.' It is true, this is not 
His ordinary method ; He is a wise lover, and knows when 
to keep back the intimation of love, and when to let it out ; 
but there are times when He will make no secret of it ; times 
when he will put it beyond all dispute in the souls of his peo- 
ple." P The Holy Spirit is often pleased, in a most gracious 
manner, to witness with our spirits of the love of Jesus. 
He takes of the things of Christ, and reveals them unto us. 
No voice is heard from the clouds, and no vision is seen in 
the night, but we have a testimony more sure than either of 
these. If an angel should fly from heaven, and inform the 
saint personally of the Saviour's love to him, the evidence 
would not be one whit more satisfactory than that which is 
borne in the heart by the Holy Ghost. Ask those of the 
Lord's people who have lived the nearest to the gates of 
heaven, and they will tell you that they have had seasons 
when the love of Christ towards them has been a fact so 
clear and sure, that they could no more doubt it than they 
could question their own existence. Yes, beloved believer, 
you and I have had times of refreshing from the presence of 
the Lord, and then our faith has mounted to the topmost 
heights of assurance. We have had confidence to lean our 
heads upon the bosom of our Lord, and we have no more 
questioned our Master's affection to us than John did when 
in that blessed posture : nay, nor so much ; for the dark 
question, " Lord, is it I that shall betray thee ? " has been 
put far from us. He has kissed us with the kisses of His 
mouth, and killed our doubts by the closeness of His em- 
brace. His love has been sweeter than wine to our souls. 

* It. Erskine's Sermons. 




356 daily headings. Dec. 21. 

" Yet He hath made with me an everlasting covenant." 
2 Samuel xxiii. 5. 

gggHIS covenant is divine in its origin. " He hath made 
with me an everlasting covenant." Oh, that great 
word He ! Stop, my soul. God, the everlasting Fa- 
ther, has positively made a covenant with thee ; yes, that G-od 
who spake the world into existence by a word ; He, stooping 
from His majesty, takes hold of thy hand and makes a cove- 
nant with thee. Is it not a deed, the stupendous condescen- 
sion of which might ravish our hearts forever if we could really 
understand it ? " HE hath made with me a covenant." A 
king has not made a covenant with me — that were some- 
what ; but the Prince of the kings of the earth, Shaddai, the 
Lord All-sufficient, the Jehovah of ages, the everlasting 
Elohim, " He hath made with me an everlasting covenant." 
But notice, it is particular in its application. " Yet hath 
He made with me an everlasting covenant." Here lies the 
sweetness of it to each believer. It is nought for me that 
He made peace for the world ; I want to know whether He 
made peace for me ! It is little that He hath made a cove- 
nant ; I want to know whether He has made a covenant with 
me. Blessed is the assurance that He hath made a covenant 
with me ! If Grod the Holy Grhost gives me assurance of 
this, then His salvation is mine, His heart is mine, He him- 
self is mine — He is my God. 

This covenant is everlasting in its duration. An everlast- 
ing covenant means a covenant which had no beginning, and 
which shall never, never end. How sweet, amidst all the 
uncertainties of life, to know that " the foundation of the 
Lord standeth sure," and to have (rod's own promise, " My 
covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone 
out of my lips." Like dying David, I will sing of this, even 
though my house be not so with Grod as my heart desireth. 




Dec. 22. DAILY READINGS. 357 

" I will strengthen thee." — Isaiah xli. 10. 

JOD has a strong reserve with which to discharge this 
engagement, for He is able to do all things ! Be- 
liever, till thou canst drain dry the ocean of omnipo- 
tence, till thou canst break into pieces the towering moun- 
tains of almighty strength, thou never needest to fear. 
Think not that the strength of man shall ever be able to 
overcome the power of Grod. Whilst the earth's huge pil- 
lars stand, thou hast enough reason to abide firm in thy faith. 
The same Grod who directs the earth in its orbit, who feeds 
the burning furnace of the sun, and trims the lamps of heaven, 
has promised to supply thee with daily strength. While He 
is able to uphold the universe, dream not that He will prove 
unable to fulfil His own promises. Remember what He did 
in the days of old, in the former generations. Remember 
how He spake and it was done ; how He commanded, and it 
stood fast. Shall He that created the world grow weary ? 
He hangeth the world upon nothing ; shall He who doth this 
be unable to support His children ? Shall He be unfaithful 
to His word for want of power ? Who is it that restrains 
the tempest? Doth not He ride upon the wings of the 
wind, and make the clouds His chariots, and hold the ocean 
in the hollow of His hand ? How can He fail thee ? When 
He has put such a faithful promise as this on record, wilt 
thou for a moment indulge the thought that He has out- 
promised himself, and gone beyond His power to fulfil ? 
Ah ! no ! Thou canst doubt no longer. 

Thou who art my Grod and my strength, I can believe 
that this promise shall be fulfilled, for the boundless reser- 
voir of Thy grace can never be exhausted, and the overflow- 
ing storehouse of Thy strength can never be emptied by Thy 
friends or rifled by Thine enemies. 

" Now let the feeble all be strong, 
And make Jehovah's arm their song." 




358 daily readings. Dec. 23. 

"Friend, go up higher" — Luke xiv. 10. 

3J5HEN first the life of grace begins in the soul, we do 
indeed draw near to God, but it is with great fear 
and trembling. The soul, conscious of guilt, and 
humbled thereby, is overawed with the solemnity of its posi- 
tion ; it is cast to the earth by a sense of the grandeur of 
Jehovah, in whose presence it stands. With unfeigned bash- 
fulness it takes the lowest room. 

But, in after life, as the Christian grows in grace, although 
he will never forget the solemnity of his position, and will 
never lose that holy awe which must encompass a gracious 
man when he is in the presence of the God who can create 
or can destroy, yet his fear has all its terror taken out of 
it ; it becomes a holy reverence, and no more an over- 
shadowing dread. He is called up higher, to greater ac- 
cess to Grod in Christ Jesus. Then the man of God, walking 
amid the splendors of Deity, and veiling his face, like the 
glorious cherubim, with those twin wings, the blood and 
righteousness of Jesus Christ, will, reverent and bowed in 
spirit, approach the throne ; and seeing there a God of love, 
of goodness, and of mercy, he will realize rather the cove- 
nant character of God than His absolute Deity. He will see 
in God rather His goodness than His greatness", and more 
of His love than of His majesty. Then will the soul, bowing 
still as humbly as aforetime, enjoy a more sacred liberty of 
intercession ; for, while prostrate before the glory of the In- 
finite God, it will be sustained by the refreshing conscious- 
ness of being in the presence of boundless mercy and infinite 
love, and by the realization of acceptance " in the Beloved." 
Thus the believer is bidden to come up higher, and is en- 
abled to exercise the privilege of rejoicing in God, and draw- 
ing near to Him in holy confidence, saying, "Abba, Father." 

" So may we go from strength to strength, 
And daily grow in grace, 
Till, in Thine image raised at length, 
We see Thee face to face." 




Dec. 24. DAILY HEADINGS. 359 

" For your sakes He became poor." — 2 Corinthians viii. 9. 

pIE Lord Jesus Christ was eternally rich, glorious, 
and exalted ; but " though He was rich, yet for your 
sakes He became poor." As the rich saint cannot 
be true in his communion with his poor brethren, unless of his 
substance he ministers to their necessities, so (the same rule 
holding with the head as between the members) it is impos- 
sible that our Divine Lord could have had fellowship with us 
unless He had imparted to us of His own abounding wealth, 
and had become poor to make us rich. Had He remained 
upon His throne of glory, and had we continued in the ruins 
of the fall without receiving His salvation, communion would 
have been impossible on both sides. Our position by the 
fall, apart from the covenant of grace, made it as impossible 
for fallen man to communicate with God as it is for Belial to 
be in concord with Christ. In order, therefore, that com- 
munion might be compassed, it was necessary that the rich 
Kinsman should bestow his estate upon his poor relatives ; 
that the righteous Saviour should give to His sinning breth- 
ren of His own perfection, and that we, the poor and guilty, 
should receive of His fulness grace for grace ; that thus in 
giving and receiving, the one might descend from the heights, 
and the others ascend from the depths, and so be able to em- 
brace each other in true and hearty fellowship. Poverty must 
be enriched by Him in whom are infinite treasures before it 
can venture to commune ; and guilt must lose itself in im- 
puted and imparted righteousness ere the soul can walk in 
fellowship with purity. Jesus must clothe His people in His 
own garments, or He cannot admit them into His palace of 
glory ; and He must wash them in His own blood, or else 
they will be too defiled for the embrace of His fellowship. 

O believer, herein is love ! For your sake the Lord Jesus 
" became poor," that He might lift you up into communion 
with Himself. 



360 DAILY READINGS. Dec. 25. 

"Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his 
name Immanuel." — Isaiah vii. 14. 

§ET us to-day go down to Bethlehem, and, in com- 
pany with wondering shepherds and adoring Magi, 
let us see Him who was born King of the Jews, for 
we by faith can claim an interest in Him, and can sing, 
" Unto us a child is born ; unto us a son is given." Jesus is 
Jehovah incarnate, our Lord and our Glod, and yet our 
brother and friend ; let us adore and admire. Let us notice 
at the very first glance His miraculous conception. It was a 
thing unheard of before, and unparalleled since, that a virgin 
should conceive and bear a son. " The Lord hath created 
a new thing in the earth ; a woman shall compass a man." 
The first promise ran thus : "The seed of the woman" not the 
offspring of the man. Since venturous woman led the way 
in the sin which brought forth Paradise lost, she, and she 
alone, ushers in the Regainer of Paradise. Our Saviour, 
although truly man, was, as to His human nature, the Holy 
One of God. By the power of the Holy Spirit, He was born 
of the virgin without the taint of original sin which appertains 
to all those who are born of the flesh. Let us reverently bow 
before the Holy Child whose innocence restores to manhood 
its ancient glory ; and let us pray that He may be formed in 
us, the hope of glory. Fail not to note His humble parentage. 
His mother our morning's portion describes simply as " a 
virgin," not a princess or prophetess, nor a matron of large 
estate. True, her lineage was not to be despised, for the blood 
of kings ran in her veins ; nor was her mind a weak and un- 
taught one, for she could sing most sweetly a song of praise; 
but yet how humble her position, how poor the man to whom 
she stood affianced, and how miserable the accommodation 
afforded to the new-born King ! Thus has poverty become 
consecrated, and men of low estate are exalted to honor. 
Every believer is a portrait of Christ, but a poor saint is the 



Dec. 25. DAILY READINGS. 361 

same well- drawn picture hung in the selfsame frame of 
poverty which surrounds the Master's image. 

We esteem every day alike, but still, as the season and 
the general custom suggest thoughts of Jesus, let us joyfully 
remember our dear Redeemer's glorious birth. Every day 
should be the birthday of the Saviour to a renewed soul. 
Amid all that is humiliating, there is much that is honorable 
in the circumstances of the birth of our Immanuel. Whose 
birth was ever ushered in by a long train of prophecy, or 
longed for by such a multitude of hearts ? Who but He can 
boast of a forerunner who marked Him as the coming Man ? 
When did angels indulge in midnight songs, or did Glod ever 
hang a new star in the sky before ? To whose cradle did rich 
and poor make so willing a pilgrimage, and offer such hearty 
and unsought oblations ? Well may earth rejoice ; well may 
all men cease their labor to celebrate " the great birthday" 
of Jesus. O Bethlehem, house of bread, we see in thee our 
hopes forever gratified. 'Tis He, the Saviour, long foretold, 
to usher in the age of gold. Let gladness rule the hour ; 
let holy song and sweet heart-music accompany our soul in 
its raptures of delight. 

The golden name, Immanuel, is inexpressibly delightful. 
It is a word fit for the lips of cherubim for its majesty, but, 
because of its marvellous condescension, none but men can 
utter it. He is not so with seraphs as He is with us. God 
with us in our nature, in our sorrow, in our lifework, in our 
punishment, in our grave, and now with us, or rather we 
with Him, in resurrection, ascension, triumph, and second 
advent splendor. The babe of Bethlehem appears to h& 
manifestly with us in weakness and in poverty ; let us not 
forget that He is equally near us in His glory and honor. 
Faith clasps the child, and love kisses Him with the kisses 
of her lips. for true spiritual fellowship with Immanuel 
all this day! 

31 




362 DAILY HEADINGS. Dec. 26. 

" The last Adam." — 1 Corinthians xv. 45. 

^'ESUS is the federal head of his elect. As in Adam 
every heir of flesh and blood has a personal interest, 
because he is the covenant head and representative 
of the race, as considered under the law of works, so, under 
the law of grace, every redeemed soul is one with the Lord 
from heaven, since He is the Second Adam, the Sponsor 
and Substitute of the elect in the new covenant of love. 
The apostle Paul declares that Levi was in the loins of 
Abraham when Melchizedek met him : it is a certain truth 
that the believer was in the loins of Jesus Christ, the Medi- 
ator, when in old eternity the covenant settlements of grace 
were decreed, ratified, and made sure forever. Thus, what- 
ever Christ hath done, He hath wrought for the whole body 
of His Church. We were crucified in Him, and buried with 
Him (read Col. ii. 10-13), and, to make it still more won- 
derful, we are risen with Him, and even ascended with Him 
to the seats on high. (Eph. ii. 6.) It is thus that the Church 
has fulfilled the law, and is " accepted in the Beloved." It is 
thus that she is regarded with complacency by the just Jeho- 
vah, for He views her in Jesus, and does not look upon her 
as separate from her covenant head. As the anointed Re- 
deemer of Israel, Christ Jesus has nothing distinct from His 
Church, but all that He has He holds for her. Adam's 
righteousness was ours so long as he maintained it, and his 
sin was ours the moment that he committed it ; and, in the 
same manner, all that the Second Adam is or does is ours 
as well as His, seeing that He is our representative. Here 
is the foundation of the covenant of grace. This gracious 
system of representation and substitution, which moved Jus- 
tin Martyr to cry out, " blessed change ! sweet permu- 
tation ! " this is the very groundwork of the gospel of our 
salvation, and is to be received with strong faith and rap- 
turous joy. 




Dec. 27. DAILY HEADINGS. 363 

" Can the rush grow up without mire !" — Job viii. 11. 

gjHE rush is spongy and hollow, and even so is a hypo- 
crite ; there is no substance or stability in him. It 
is shaken to and fro in every wind, just as formalists 
yield to every influence ; for this reason the rush is not broken 
by the tempest, neither are hypocrites troubled with perse- 
cution. I would not willingly be a deceiver, or be deceived ; 
perhaps the text for this day may help me to try myself, 
whether I be a hypocrite or no. The rush by nature lives 
in water, and owes its very existence to the mire and moisture 
wherein it has taken root ; let the mire become dry, and the 
rush withers very quickly. Its greenness is absolutely de- 
pendent upon circumstances ; a present abundance of water 
makes it flourish, and a drought destroys it at once> Is this 
my case ? Do I only serve God when I am in good com- 
pany, or when religion is profitable and respectable ? Do I 
love the Lord only when temporal comforts are received 
from His hands ? If so, I am a base hypocrite, and, like the 
withering rush, I shall perish when death deprives me of 
outward joys. But can I honestly assert that, when bodily 
comforts have been few, and my surroundings have been 
rather adverse to grace than at all helpful to it, I have still 
held fast my integrity? — then have I hope that there is genu- 
ine vital godliness in me. The rush cannot grow without mire, 
but plants of the Lord's right hand planting can and do 
flourish even in the year of drought. A goodly man often 
grows best when his worldly circumstances decay. He who 
follows Christ for his bag is a Judas ; they who follow for 
loaves and fishes are children of the devil ; but they who at- 
tend Him out of love to Himself are his own beloved ones. 
Lord, let me find my life in Thee, and not in the mire of 
this world's favor or gain. 




364 daily headings. Dec. 28. 

" The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the 
Son of God." — Galatians ii. 20. 

IJjHEN the Lord in mercy passed by and saw us in our 
blood, He first of all said, " Live ; " and this He did 
first, because life is one of the absolutely essential 
things in spiritual matters, and until it be bestowed we are 
incapable of partaking in the things of the kingdom. Now 
the life which grace confers upon the saints at the moment of 
their quickening is none other than the life of Christ, which, 
like the sap from the stem, runs into us, the branches, and 
establishes a living connection between our souls and Jesus. 
Faith is the grace which perceives this union, having pro- 
ceeded from it as its first-fruit. It is the neck which joins 
the body of the Church to its all-glorious Head. 

" O Faith ! thou bond of union with the Lord, 
Is not this office thine ? and thy fit name, 
In the economy of gospel types, 
And symbols apposite — the Church's neck; 
Identifying her in will and work 
"With Him ascended ? " 

Faith lays hold upon the Lord Jesus with a firm and de- 
termined grasp. She knows His excellence and worth, and 
no temptation can induce her to repose her trust elsewhere ; 
and Christ Jesus is so delighted with this heavenly grace, 
that He never ceases to strengthen and sustain her by the 
loving embrace and all-sufficient support of His eternal arms. 
Here, then, is established a living, sensible, and delightful 
union which casts forth streams of love, confidence, sympathy, 
complacency, and joy, whereof both the bride and bridegroom 
love to drink. When the soul can evidently perceive this 
oneness between itself and Christ, the pulse may be felt as 
beating for both, and the one blood as flowing through the 
veins of each. Then is the heart as near heaven as it can be 
on earth, and is prepared for the enjoyment of the most sub- 
lime and spiritual kind of fellowship. 




Dec. 29. DAILY READINGS. 365 

" Hitherto hath the Lord helped its." — 1 Samuel vii. 12. 

ggHE word " hitherto " seems like a hand pointing in 
the direction of the past. Twenty years or seventy, 
and yet " hitherto the Lord hath helped " ! Through 
poverty, through wealth, through sickness, through health, 
at home, abroad, on the land, on the sea, in honor, in dis- 
honor, in perplexity, in joy, in trial, in triumph, in prayer, 
in temptation, " hitherto the Lord hath helped us " ! 

We delight to look down a long avenue of trees. It is 
delightful to gaze from end to end of the long vista, a sort 
of verdant temple, with its branching pillars and its arches 
of leaves ; even so look down the long aisles of your years, 
at the green boughs of mercy overhead, and the strong pil- 
lars of loving kindness and faithfulness which bear up your 
joys ? Are there no birds in yonder branches singing ? 
Surely, there must be many, and they all sing of mercy re- 
ceived "hitherto." 

But the word also points forward. For when a man gets 
up to a certain mark, and writes " hitherto," he is not yet at 
the end ; there is still a distance to be traversed. More trials, 
more joys ; more temptations, more triumphs ; more prayers, 
more answers ; more toils, more strength ; more fights, more 
victories ; and then come sickness, old age, disease, death. 
Is it over now ? No ! there is more yet — awakening in 
Jesus' likeness, thrones, harps, songs, psalms, white raiment, 
the face of Jesus, the society of saints, the glory of Grod, the 
fulness of eternity, the infinity of bliss. 0, be of good cour- 
age, believer, and with grateful confidence raise thy " Eben- 

ezer," for — 

He who hath helped thee hitherto 

"Will help thee all thy journey through. , 

When read in heaven's light, how glorious and marvellous a 
prospect will thy " hitherto " unfold to thy grateful eye ! 
31* 




366 DAILY READINGS. Dec. 30. 

" Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof" 
Ecclesiastes vii. 8. 

^OOK at David's Lord and Master ; see His beginning. 
He was despised and rejected of men ; a man of sor- 
rows and acquainted with grief. Would you see the 
end ? He sits at His Father's right hand, expecting until 
His enemies be made His footstool. "As He is, so are we 
also in this world." You must bear the cross, or you shall 
never wear the crown ; you must wade through the mire, or 
you shall never walk the golden pavement. Cheer up, then, 
poor Christian. " Better is the end of a thing than the be- 
ginning thereof." See that creeping worm ; how contempti- 
ble its appearance ! It is the beginning of a thing. Mark 
that insect with gorgeous wings, playing in the sunbeams, 
sipping at the flower bells, full of happiness and life ; that is 
the end thereof. That caterpillar is yourself, until you are 
wrapped up in the chrysalis of death ; but when Christ shall 
appear you shall be like Him, for you shall see Him as He 
is. Be content to be like Him, a worm and no man, that 
like Him you may be satisfied when you wake up in His like- 
ness. That rough-looking diamond is put upon the wheel 
of the lapidary. He cuts it on all sides. It loses much — 
much that seemed costly to itself. The king is crowned ; 
the diadem is put upon the monarch's head with trumpet's 
joyful sound. A glittering ray flashes from that coronet, 
and it beams from that very diamond which was just now so 
sorely vexed by the lapidary. You may venture to compare 
yourself to such a diamond, for you are one of God's people ; 
and this is the time of the cutting process. Let faith and 
patience have their perfect work, for in the day when the 
crown shall be set upon the head of the King Eternal, Im- 
mortal, Invisible, one ray of glory shall stream from you. 
" They shall be Mine," saith the Lord, "in the day when I 
make up My jewels." " Better is the end of a thing than the 
beginning thereof." 



Bee. 31. DAILY READINGS. 367 

" In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, 
saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink" 
— John vii. 37. 

^jgATIENCE had her perfect work in the Lord Jesus, 
Ifl and until the last day of the feast He pleaded with 




the Jews, even as on this last day of the year He 
pleads with us, and waits to be gracious to us. Admirable 
indeed is the long-suffering of the Saviour in bearing with 
some of us year after year, notwithstanding our provocations, 
rebellions, and resistance of His Holy Spirit. Wonder of 
wonders that we are still in the land of mercy. 

Pity expressed herself most plainly, for Jesus cried, which 
implies not only the loudness of His voice, but the tenderness 
of His tones. He entreats us to be reconciled. " We pray 
you," says the Apostle, " as though Grod did beseech you by 
us." What earnest, pathetic terms are these ! How deep 
must be the love which makes the Lord weep over sinners, 
and like a mother woo His children to His bosom. Surely 
at the call of such a cry our willing hearts will come. 

Provision is made most plenteously ; all is provided that 
man can need to quench his soul's thirst. To his conscience 
the atonement brings peace ; to his understanding the gos- 
pel brings the richest instruction ; to his heart the person of 
Jesus is the noblest object of affection ; to the whole man 
the truth as it is in Jesus supplies the purest nutriment. 
Thirst is terrible, but Jesus can remove it. Though the soul 
were utterly famished, Jesus could restore it. 

Proclamation is made, most freely, that every thirsty one is 
welcome. No other distinction is made but that of thirst. 
Whether it be the thirst of avarice, ambition, pleasure, knowl- 
edge, or rest, he who suffers from it is invited. The thirst 
may be bad in itself, and be no sign of grace, but rather a 
mark of inordinate sin longing to be gratified with deeper 
draughts of lust; but it is not goodness in the creature 



368 daily headings. Dec. 31. 

which brings him the invitation, the Lord Jesus sends it 
freely, and without respect of persons. 

Personality is declared most fully . The sinner must come 
to Jesus, not to works, ordinances, or doctrines, but to a 
personal Redeemer, who His own self bore our sins in His 
own body on the tree. The bleeding, dying, rising Saviour 
is the only star of hope to a sinner. O for grace to come 
now and drink, ere the sun sets upon the year's last day ! 

No waiting or preparation is so much as hinted at. Drink- 
ing represents a reception for which no fitness is required. 
A fool, a thief, a harlot can drink ; and so sinfulness of char- 
acter is no bar to the invitation to believe in Jesus. We 
want no golden cup, no bejewelled chalice, in which to con- 
vey the water to the thirsty, the mouth of poverty is wel- 
come to stoop down and quaff the flowing flood. Blistered, 
leprous, filthy lips may touch the stream of divine love ; 
they cannot pollute it, but shall themselves be purified. 
Jesus is the fount of hope. Dear reader,, hear the dear 
Redeemer's loving voice as He cries to each of us, " If any 

MAN THIRST, LET HIM COME UNTO Me AND DRINK." 



HYMNS 



FOB 



MORNING WORSHIP 



%>Ut |»mltg. 



u Praise the Lord. Praise tlie Lord, O my soul." 

Psa&ncxlvi. 



(369) 



HYMNS FOR MORNING WORSHIP. 

For the months of January, March, May, July, September, 
and November. 



1st Morning. C. M. Dedham. Coronation. 

LET Him be crowned with majesty 
Who bowed His head to death, 
And be His honors sounded high 
By all things that have breath. 
Jesus our Lord, how wondrous great 

Is Thine exalted name ! 
The glories of Thy heavenly state 
Let the whole earth proclaim. 
2d Morning. 7's. Nuremberg. 

I WILL praise Thee every day ! 
Now Thine anger's turned away; 
Comfortable thoughts arise 
From the bleeding sacrifice. 
Jesus is become, at length, 
My salvation and my strength, 
And His praises shall prolong, 
While I live, my pleasant song. 
3d Morning. 8, 7. Autumn. Netftetoti. 

PASCHAL Lamb, by God appointed, 
All our sins were on Thee laid ; 
By almighty Love anointed, 

Thou hast full atonement made. 
All Thy people are forgiven 

Through the virtue of Thy Blood ; 
Opened is the gate of heaven ; 

Peace is made 'twixt man and God. 
4th Morning. L. M. Uxbridge* Retreat. 

Y God, how endless is Thy love ! 
Thy gifts are every evening new ; 
And morning mercies from above 

Gently distil like early dew. 
I yield my powers to Thy command ; 

To Thee I consecrate my days ; 
Perpetual blessings from Thine hand 
Demand perpetual songs of praise. 
32 



M 



374 HYMNS FOR MORNING WORSHIP. 



6th Morning. C. M. Azmon. Gazer. 

THOU from whom all goodness flows, 
I lift my heart to Thee ; 
In all my sorrows, conflicts, woes, 
Dear Lord, remember me ! 



o 



When groaning on my burdened heart 

My sins lie heavily, 
My pardon speak, new peace impart, 

In love remember me. 

6th Morning. C. M. Helena. Naomi. 

LORD, in the day, Thou art about 
The paths wherein I tread ; 
And in the night, when I lie down, 
Thou art about my bed. 

'Tis Thou dost crown my hopes, and plant 

With good success each day ; 
This crown, together with myself, 

At Thy blest feet I lay. 

0, let my house a temple be, 

That I and mine may sing 
Hosanna to Thy Majesty, 

And praise our heavenly King ! 

7th Morning. 7's. Fulton. Wayland. 

JESUS, cast a look on me ; 
Give me sweet simplicity ; 
Make me poor and keep me low, 
Seeking only Thee to know. 

Leaning on Thy loving breast, 
Where a weary soul may rest ; 
Feeling well the peace of God 
Flowing from Thy precious blood ! 

In this posture let me live, 
And hosannas daily give ; 
In this temper let me die, 
And hosannas ever cry ! 



HYMNS FOR MORNING WORSHIP. 375 

8th Morning. L. M. Duke St. RothweU. 

AWAKE, my soul, and with the sun 
Thy daily stage of duty run ; 
Shake off dull sloth, and early rise 
To pay thy morning sacrifice. 

All praise to Thee, who safe hast kept, 
And hast refreshed me whilst I slept ! 
Grant, Lord, when I from death shall wake* 
I may of endless life partake ! 

Direct, control, suggest, this day, 
All I design, or do, or say ; 
That all my powers, with all their might, 
In Thy sole glory may unite. 

9th Morning. L. M. Windham, Zephyr. 

WHEN I survey the wondrous cross 
On which the Prince of glory died, 
My richest gain I count but loss, 
And pour contempt on all my pride. 

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, 
Save in the death of Christ, my Grod ; 

All the vain things which charm me most, 
I sacrifice them to His blood. 

See from His head, His hands, His feet, 
Sorrow and love flow mingled down I 

Did e'er such love and sorrow meet, 
Or thorns compose so rich a crown ? 



10th Morning. C. M. Ortowvitte. Wirth. 

OW sweet the name of Jesus sounds 
In a believer's ear ! 
It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, 
And drives away his fear ! 



H 



It makes the wounded spirit whole, 
And calms the troubled breast ; 

'Tis manna to the hungry soul, 
And to the weary rest. 



376 HYMNS FOR MORNING WORSHIP. 







11th Morning. L. M. Hamburg. Holland. 

GOD, Thou art my God alone ; 
Early to Thee my soul shall cry ; 
A pilgrim in a land unknown, 

A thirsty land, where springs are dry. 

Better than life itself Thy love, 

Dearer than all beside to me ; 
For whom have I in heaven above, 

Or what on earth, compared to Thee ? 

Praise with my heart, my mind, my voice, 

For all Thy mercy, I will give ; 
My soul shall still in God rejoice, 

My tongue shall bless Thee while I live. 

12th Morning. C. M. Harlow* Brown. 

LET all the just, to God, with joy, 
Their cheerful voices raise ; 
For well the righteous it becomes 
To sing glad songs of praise. 

For faithful is the word of God ; 

His works with truth abound ; 
He justice loves — and all the earth 

Is with his goodness crowned. 



13th Morning. S. M. Golden HiM. Boyle. 

BLESS the Lord, my soul ! 
Let all within me join, 
And aid my tongue to bless His name 
Whose favors are divine. 



o 



'Tis He forgives thy sins, 
'Tis He relieves thy pain, 
'Tis He that heals thy sicknesses, 
And makes thee young again. 

He crowns thy life with love, 
When ransomed from the grave ; 
He that redeemed my soul from hell 
Hath sovereign power to save. 







HYMNS FOR MORNING WORSHIP. 377 

14th Morning. C. M. Azmon. Dedham. 

jUR God, our help in ages past, 
Our hope for years to come, 
Our shelter from the stormy blast, 
And our eternal home. 

Under the shadow of Thy throne 

Thy saints have dwelt secure ; 
Sufficient is Thine arm alone, 

And our defence is sure. 

15th Morning. C. M. Helena. Naomi. 

THERE is an hour when I must part 
With all I hold most dear, 
And life, with its best hopes, will then 
As nothingness appear. 

There is an hour when I must stand 

Before the judgment-seat, 
And all my sins, and all my foes, 

In awful vision meet. 

Saviour, then, in all my need, 
Be near, be near to me, 

And let my soul, in steadfast faith, 
Find life and heaven in Thee ! 

16th Morning. C. M. Dimdee. Ortonvitte, 

JESUS, Thou art my Righteousness, 
For all my sins were Thine ; 
Thy death hath bought of Grod my peace, 
Thy life hath made Him mine. 

Spotless and just in Thee I am ; 
I feel my sins forgiven ; 

1 taste salvation in Thy name, 

And antedate my heaven. 



17th Morning. C. M. Old Hundredth. 

THOU by whom we come to Grod, 
The Life, the Truth, the Way ; 
The path of prayer Thyself hast trod : 
Lord, teach us how to pray ! 
32* 



o 



378 HYMNS FOR MORNING WORSHIP. 

18th Morning. S. M. St. Thomas. Laban. 

THE Lord Himself will keep 
His people safe from harm, 
Will hold the helm, and guide the ship, 
With His almighty arm. 

Then let the tempests roar, 

The billows heave and swell ; 
We trust to reach the peaceful shore 

Where all the ransomed dwell. 



19th Morning. S. M. Dennis. Shirland. 

Y spirit on Thy care, 
Blest Saviour, I recline ; 
Thou wilt not leave me to despair, 
For Thou art Love divine. 



M 



In Thee I place my trust, 

On Thee I calmly rest ; 
I know Thee good, I know Thee just, 

And count Thy choice the best. 



o 



20th Morning. C. M. Naomi. Helena. 

jUR Lord, when here in feeble flesh, 
Poured out His cries and tears, 
And in His measure feels afresh 
What every member bears. 

Then let our humble faith address 

His mercy and His power ; 
We shall obtain delivering grace 

In the distressing hour. 

21st Morning. 7's. Nwremherg Hcrndon, 

(OME, my soul, thy suit prepare ; 
Jesus loves to answer prayer ; 
He Himself has bid thee pray, 
Therefore will not say thee nay. 

Thou art coming to a King ; 
Large petitions with thee bring ; 
For His grace and power are such, 
None can ever ask too much. 



c 



HYMNS FOR MORNING WORSHIP. 379 

22d Morning. L. M. Zephyr. Retreat. 

IN every dark, distressing hour, 
When sin and Satan join their power, 
Let this dear hope repel the dart — 
That Jesus bears us on His heart. 

Great Advocate, Almighty Friend, 
On Him our humble hopes depend ; 
Our cause can never, never fail, 
For Jesus pleads, and must prevail. 

23d Morning. C. M. Dundee. Byefield. 

OD is our Refuge, tried and proved, 
Amid a stormy world ; 
We will not fear, though earth be moved, 
And hills in ocean hurled. 



G" 



The waves may roar, the mountains shake, 

Our comforts shall not cease ; 
The Lord His saints will not forsake, 

The Lord will give us peace. 



24th Morning. C. M. Evan. La Mira. 

IOME, let us to the Lord our God, 
With contrite hearts, return ; 
Our God is gracious, nor will leave 
The desolate to mourn. 



c 



His voice commands the tempest forth, 
And stills the stormy wave ; 

And though His arm be strong to smite, 
'Tis also strong to save. 



25th Morning. CM. Henry. Stephens. 

MY God, the Spring of all my joys, 
The Life of my delights, 
The Glory of my brightest days, 
And Comfort of my nights ! 

In darkest shades, if He appear, 

My dawning is begun ; 
He is my soul's sweet morning star, 

And He my rising sun. 



380 HYMNS FOR MORNING WORSHIP. 

26th Morning. C. M. Fountain. Azmon. 

THEEE is a fountain filled with blood, 
Drawn from Immanuel's veins, 
And sinners, plunged beneath that flood, 
Lose all their guilty stains. 

The dying thief rejoiced to see 

That fountain in his day ; 
And there have I, as well as he, 

Washed all my sins away. 

27th Morning. S. M. Silver Street, Laban, 

AWAKE, and sing the song 
Of Moses and the Lamb, 
Wake every heart and every tongue 
To praise the Saviour's name. 

Sing of His dying love ; 

Sing of His rising power ; 
Sing how He intercedes above 

For those whose sins He bore. 

Sing till we feel our hearts 
Ascending with our tongues ; 

Sing till the love of sin departs, 
And grace inspires our songs. 



28th Morning. S. M. St, Thomas. State Street. 

IOME, Holy Spirit, come, 
Let Thy bright beams arise, 
Dispel the darkness from our minds, 
And open all our eyes. 



G 



'Tis Thine to cleanse the heart, 

To sanctify the soul, 
To pour fresh life in every part, 

And new create the whole. 

Dwell, therefore, in our hearts, 
Our minds from bondage free ; 

Then we shall know, and praise, and love 
The Father, Son, and Thee ! 



HYMNS FOR MORNING WORSHIP. 381 

29th Morning. C. M. Brown. Downs. 

HOSANNA ! Master ! lo, we bring 
Our offerings to Thy throne ; 
Not gold, nor myrrh, nor mortal thing, 
But hearts to be Thine own. 

Hosanna ! once Thy gracious ear 

Approved a lisping throng ; 
Be gracious still, and deign to hear 

Our poor but grateful song. 

30th Morning. C. M. La Mira. Byefield. 

THIS land, through which His pilgrims go, 
Is desolate and dry ; 
But streams of grace from Jesus flow, 
Their thirst to satisfy. 

When troubles, like a burning sun, 

Beat heavy on their head, 
To this almighty Rock they run, 

And find a pleasing shade. 

How glorious He ! how happy they 

In such a glorious Friend ! 
Whose love secures them all the way, 

And crowns them at the end. 



31st Morning. C. M. Balerma. 

E who on earth as man was known, 
And bore our sins and pains, 
Now, seated on th' eternal Throne, 
The God of glory reigns. 



H 



His hands the wheels of nature guide 

With an unerring skill, 
And countless worlds, extended wide, 

Obey His sovereign will. 

While harps unnumbered sound His praisB 

In yonder world above, 
His saints on earth admire His ways, 

And glory in His love. 



382 HYMNS FOR MORNING WORSHIP. 



HYMNS FOR MORNING WORSHIP. 

For the months of February, April, June, August, October ', 
and December. 



1st Morning. C. M. Brown. Heber. 

THAT I could the blessing prove, 
My heart's extreme desire ! 
Live happy in my Saviour's love, 
And in His arms expire ! 



o 



Nothing I ask or want beside, 
Of all in earth or heaven, 

But let me feel Thy blood applied, 
And live and die forgiven. 



o 



2d Morning. C. M. Peterbord'. La Mira. 

( N Thee, each morning, my God, 
My waking thoughts attend ; 
In Thee are founded all my hopes, 
In Thee my wishes end. 

My spirit, in Thy hand secure, 

Fears no approaching ill ; 
For whether waking or asleep, 

Thou, Lord, art with me still. 

3d Morning. CM. . Balcrma, Helena* 

LORD, I believe Thou hast prepared, 
Unworthy though I be, 
For me a blood-bought free reward, — 
A golden harp for me. 

'Tis strung and tuned for endless years, 

And formed by power divine, 
To sound in Grod the Father's ears 

No other name but Thine. 



HYMNS FOR MORNING WORSHIP. 383 

4th Morning. L. M. Hamburg. Zephyr. 

HEAR, gracious God ! a sinner's cry, 
For I have nowhere else to fly ; 
My hope, my only hope 's in Thee ; 
O God, be merciful to me ! 

To Thee I come, a sinner poor, 
And wait for mercy at Thy door ; 
Indeed, I've nowhere else to flee : 
O God, be merciful to me ! 

5th Morning. L. M. Dumbarton. Ward, 

IN every pang that rends the heart, 
The Man of Sorrows had a part ; 
He sympathizes with our grief, 
And to the sufferer sends relief. 

With boldness, therefore, at the throne, 
Let us make all our sorrows known ; 
And ask the aid of heavenly power 
To help us in the evil hour. 

6th Morning. L. M. Best. Captivity* 

iENEATH Thy cross I lay me down, 
And mourn to see thy bloody crown ; 
Love drops in blood from every vein ; 
Love is the spring of all His pain. 

Here, Jesus, I shall ever stay, 
And spend my longing hours away, 
Think on Thy bleeding wounds and pain, 
And contemplate Thy woes again. 

7th Morning. C. M. Naomi. La Mira. 

GIVE me a calm, a thankful heart, 
From every murmur free ; 
The blessings of Thy grace impart, 
And let me live to Thee. 

Let the sweet hope that Thou art mine 

My path of life attend ; 
Thy presence through my journey shine, 

And bless its happy end ! 



B 



384 HYMNS FOR MORNING WORSHIP. 

8th Morning. L. M. Old Hundred. Holland, 

JESUS, our God, our souls adore, 
A painful sufferer now no more ; 
High on His Father's throne He reigns 
O'er earth, and heaven's extensive plains. 

His race forever is complete ; 
Forever undisturbed His seat ; 
Myriads of angels round Him fly, 
And sing His well-gained victory. 

Yet 'midst the honors of His throne. 
He joys not for Himself alone ; 
His meanest servants share their part — 
Share in their Saviour's tender heart. 

9th Morning. C. M. Stephens. Downs, 

FOREVER here my rest shall be, 
Close to Thy bleeding side ; 
This all my hope and all my plea, — 
For me the Saviour died. 

My dying Saviour and my God, 

Fountain for guilt and sin, 
Sprinkle me ever with Thy blood, 

And cleanse and keep me clean* 

10th Mobntng. L. M. Loving Kindness. Eolland, 

AWAKE, my soul, in joyful lays, 
To sing Thy great Redeemer's praise ; 
He justly claims a song from me ; 
His loving-kindness, 0, how free ! 

He saw me ruined in the fall, 

Yet loved me notwithstanding all ; * 

He saved me from my lost estate ; 

His loving-kindness, 0, how great 1 

Though numerous hosts of mighty foes, 
Though earth and hell my way oppose, 
He safely leads my soul along ; 
His loving-kindness, 0, how strong I 



HYMNS FOR MORNING WORSHIP. 385 



N' 



11th Morning. C. M. Peterboro\ Azmon. 

OW let our cheerful eyes survey 
Our great High Priest above, 
And celebrate His constant care 
And sympathetic love. 

Though raised to a superior throne, 

Where angels bow around, 
And high o'er all the shining train, 

With matchless honors crowned, — 

The names of all His saints He bears 

Deep graven on His heart ; 
Nor shall the meanest Christian say 

That he hath lost his part. 

12th Morning. C. M. Brown. Downs. 

JESUS, the King of glory, reigns 
On Sion's heavenly hill ; 
Looks like a lamb that has been slain, 
And wears His priesthood still. 

He ever lives to intercede 

Before His Father's face ; 
Give Him, my soul, thy cause to plead, 

Nor doubt the Father's grace. 

13th Morning. L. M. Hamburg. Rest. 

JESUS, our Saviour and our God, 
Arrayed in majesty and blood, 
Thou art our life ; our souls in Thee 
Possess a full felicity. 

All our immortal hopes are laid 
In Thee, our Surety and our Head ; 
Thy cross, Thy cradle, and Thy throne, 
Are big with glories yet unknown. 

0, let our souls forever lie 
Beneath the blessings of Thine eye ; 
'Tis heaven on earth, 'tis heaven above, 
To see Thy face and taste Thy love. 

33 







386 HYMNS FOR MORNING WORSHIP. 

14th Morning. L. M. Gratitude. Ashwcll. 

LORD JESUS, when we stand afar 
And see Thee bleeding on the cross, 
In love of Thee and scorn of self, 
0, may we count the world as loss. 

When we behold Thy bleeding wounds, 
And the rough way that Thou hast trod, 

Make us to hate the load of sin 
That lay so heavy on our God. 

15th Morning. C. M. Balerma. Azmon* 

FOR a heart to praise my God, 
A heart from sin set free, 
A heart that always feels Thy blood 
So freely spilt for me ! 

A heart resigned, submissive, meek, 

My dear Redeemer's throne, 
Where only Christ is heard to speak, 

Where Jesus reigns alone. 

16th Morning. L. M. Woodworih. Zephyr. 

JUST as I am, without one plea, 
But that Thy blood was shed for me, 
And that Thou bidd'st me come to Thee, 
Lamb of God, I come ! I come ! 

Just as I am, and waiting not 
To rid my soul of one dark blot, 
To Thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot, 
O Lamb of God, I come ! I come ! 



Y 



17th Morning. C. M. Marlow. Ortorwille* 

"ES, I will bless Thee, O my God, 
Through all my mortal days, 
And to eternity prolong 

Thy vast, Thy boundless praise. 

In every smiling, happy hour, 

Be this my sweet employ ; 
Thy praise refines my earthly bliss, 

And doubles all my joy. 



S' 



HYMNS FOR MORNING WORSHIP. 387 

18th Morning. 7's. Nuremberg. Fulton. 

ON of God, to Thee we bow; 
Thou art Lord, and only Thou ; 
Thou the woman's promised Seed ; 
Thou, who didst for sinners bleed ! 

Thee the angels ceasless sing ; 
Thee we praise, our Priest and King. 
Worthy is Thy name of praise, 
Full of glory, full of grace ! 

19th Morning. C. M. Azmon. Helena. 

APPROACH, my soul, the mercy-seat, 
Where Jesus answers prayer ; 
There humbly fall before His feet, 
For none can perish there. 

Thy promise is my only plea ; 

With this I venture nigh ; 
Thou callest burdened souls to Thee, 

And such, Lord, am I. 



D 



20th Morning. C. M. Balerma. JSTaonU* 

,ID Jesus bow His sacred head, 
And die a death of shame ? 
Let men and angels magnify 
And bless His holy name ! 

O, let us live in peace and love, 

And cast away our pride, 
And crucify our sins afresh, 

As He was crucified ! 



H 



21st Morning. 7's. Fulton. PleyeVs Hymn* 

EAVENLY FATHER, to whose eye 
Future things unfolded lie, 
Through the desert, where I stray, 
Let Thy counsels guide my way. 

Lord, uphold me day by day, 
Shed a light upon my way, 
Ouide me through perplexing snares r 
Care for me in all my cares. 



388 HYMNS FOR MORNING WORSHIP. 

22d Morning. S. M. Laban. Olmutz. 

GIVE to the winds thy fears ; 
Hope and be undismayed ; 
Grod hears thy sighs, and counts thy tears ; 
God shall lift up thy head. 

Through waves, and clouds, and storms, 

He gently clears thy way ; 
Wait thou His time ; so shall this night 

Soon end in joyous day. 

23d Morning. C. M. Dundee. Brown. 

THE head that once was crowned with thorns 
Is crowned with glory now ; 
A royal diadem adorns 
The mighty Victor's brow. 

The highest place that heaven affords 

Is His, is His by right ; 
The King of kings, and Lord of lords* 

And heaven's eternal Light. 

The joy of all who dwell above, 

The joy of all below, 
To whom He manifests His love, 

And grants His name to know. 

24th Morning. L. M. Hebron* OcvptivUy* 

I .THIRST, but not as once I did, 
The vain delights of earth to share ; 
Thy wounds, Immanuel, all forbid 

That I should seek my pleasure there. 

It was the sight of Thy dear cross 

First weaned my soul from earthly things, 

And taught me to esteem as dross 

The mirth of fools and pomp of kings. 

Dear Fountain of delight unknown, 

,No longer sink below the brim, 
But overflow, and pour me down 

A living and life-giving stream* 



s 



HYMNS FOR MORNING WORSHIP. 389 

25th Morning. 8, 7. Sicily, or Dismission. 

WEET the moments, rich in blessing, 
Which before the cross I spend ; 
Life, and health, and peace possessing 
From the sinner's dying Friend. 

Here I'll sit, forever viewing 

Mercy's streams in streams of blood ; 

Precious drops, my soul bedewing, 
Plead and claim my peace with Glod. 

26th Morning. 8, 7. Greenville. 

TRULY blessed is the station 
Low before His cross to lie, 
While I see divine compassion 
Floating in His languid eye. 

Here it is I find my heaven, 

While upon the Lamb I gaze : 
Love I much ? I've more forgiven ; 

I'm a miracle of grace. 

27th Morning. C. M. Brown. Dedham. 

WHOM have we, Lord, in heaven but Thee, 
And whom on earth beside ? 
Where else for succor can we flee, 
Or in-whose strength confide ? 

Thou art our portion here below, 

Our promised bliss above : 
Ne'er may our souls an object know 

So precious as Thy love. 

28th Morning. L. M. Uxhridge. Meroe. 

ETERNAL Spirit ! we confess, 
And sing the wonders of Thy grace ; 
Thy power conveys our blessings down 
From God the Father and the Son. 

The troubled conscience knows Thy voice, 
Thy cheering words awake our joys ; 
Thy words allay the stormy wind, 
And calm the surges of the mind. 
33* 



390 HYMNS FOR MORNING WORSHIP. 

29th Morning. L. M. Old Hundred. Duke Street. 

THE Lord is King ! lift up thy voice ; 
earth, and all ye heavens, rejoice ; 
From world to world the joy shall ring ; 
The Lord omnipotent is King. 

The Lord is King ! who then shall dare 
Resist His will, distrust His care, 
Or murmur at His wise decrees, 
Or doubt His royal promises ? 

30th Morning. 7's. Fulton. PleyeVs Hymn* 

CHILDREN of the heavenly King, 
As ye journey, sweetly sing ; 
Sing your Saviour's worthy praise, 
Glorious in His works and ways ! 

We are travelling home to God, 
In the way the fathers trod : 
They are happy now ; and we 
Soon their happiness shall see. 

Fear not, brethren ! joyful stand 
On the borders of your land ; 
Jesus Christ, your Father's Son, 
Bids you undismayed go on. 



3 1st Morning. C. M. Mear. Helena* 

GOD of Bethel, by whose hand 
Thy people still are fed, 
Who through this weary pilgrimage 
Hast all our fathers led, — 



o 



Our vows, our prayers, we now present 
Before Thy throne of grace ; 

God of our fathers ! be the God 
Of their succeeding race. 

Through each perplexing path of life 
Our wandering footsteps guide ; 

Give us each day our daily bread, 
And raiment fit provide. 



HYMNS 



FAMILY WORSHIP 



ON THE MORNING OF 



t §?0tfd'!!S §»*}. 



" Praise ye the Lord. Sing unto the Lord a new song, and His 
praise in the congregation of saints." — Psalm cxlix. 



(391) 




^ 



NOTE. 

UFFICIENT Sabbath Hymns are here provided for 
six months, and we feel sure that, occurring only 
twice in the year, there will be no fear of monotony. 
Having once gone through them, on the first Sunday of 
July the family will recommence the series, and continue 
till the end of the year. It is only occasionally that twenty- 
seven Sundays will occur in any one half-year, and therefore 
the twenty-seventh Hymn will not be usually sung. 

May the Lord of the Sabbath hear the morning songs of 
His people, and prepare them for the louder shout of the 
great congregation. We should, at the family altar, tune 
our harps for the solemn music of the sanctuary. They are 
blessed indeed who go from worship in the tents of Jacob 
to the solemnities of the temple of Zion. May the Lord, 
who rested on the seventh day and was refreshed, give to 
His people rest and refreshment on this their day of sacred 
Sabbath. 

(393) 



HYMNS FOE THE LORD'S DAY. 



H 



1st Morning. L. M. Hehron. Meroe. 

ANOTHER six days' work is done, 
Another Sabbath is begun ; 
Return, my soul, enjoy thy rest, 
Improve the day thy God hath blest. 
that our thoughts and thanks may rise 
As grateful incense to the skies, 
And draw from heaven that sweet repose 
Which none but he that feels it kncv<&. 
This heavenly calm within the breast 
Is the dear pledge of glorious rest, 
Which for the church of Grod remains, 
The end of cares, the end of pains. 
2d Morning. L. M. Duke Street. Rest. 

"AIL ! sacred morn, when Christ arose 
Triumphant o'er our mighty foes ; 
Hail ! blissful day, when He appears 
In Zion's courts, and Zion cheers. 
Entombed in doubts and fears we lie, 
Till Christ, descending from on high, 
Rolls unbelief (that stone) away, 
And bids us rise to gospel day. 
Come, thou covenant Angel, come, 
Roll back the stone, our hearts untomfe, 
The beams of thy bright countenance shed, 
Revive the drooping, raise the dead. 

3d Morning. 7's. Nuremberg* 

CHRIST, the Lord, is risen to-day ! 
Sons of men and angels say : 
Raise your joys and triumphs high ; 
Sing, ye heavens, and, earth, reply. 
Soar we now where Christ has led, 
Following our exalted Head ; 
Made like Him, like Him we rise, 
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies. 

(395) 



396 HYMNS FOR THE LORD'S DAY. 



o 



4th Morning. C. M. Dedham. La Mira. 

THOU that art the mighty One, 
Thy sword gird on Thy thigh ; 
Even with Thy glory excellent, 
And with Thy Majesty. 

For meekness, truth, and righteousness, 

This day ride prosperously, 
And Thy right hand shall Thee instruct 

In things that fearful be. 

6th Morning. L. M. Brattle Street. Zephyr. 

THINE earthly Sabbaths, Lord, we love ; 
But there's a nobler rest above ; 
To that our laboring souls aspire, 
With ardent pangs of strong desire. 

No more fatigue, no more distress, 
Nor sin, nor hell shall reach the place ; 
No groans to mingle with the songs 
"Which warble from immortal tongues. 

6th Morning. 7's. Mariyn. 

TO Thy temple I repair, 
Lord, I love to worship there ; 
When, within the veil, I meet 
Christ before the mercy-seat. 

Thou, through Him, art reconciled ; 
I, through Him, became Thy child ; 
Abba, Father ! give me grace, 
In Thy courts to seek Thy face, 

7th Morning. C M. Marlow. Cambridge. 

"HAT shall I render to my God 
For all His kindness shown ? 
My feet shall visit Thine abode, 
My songs address Thy throne. 

Among the saints that fill Thine house 

My offerings shall be paid ; 
There shall my zeal perform the vows 

My soul in anguish made. 



w 



HYMNS FOR THE LORD'S DAY. 397 

8th Morning. S. M. Silver Street. St. Thomas. 

WELCOME, sweet day of rest, 
That saw the Lord arise ; 
Welcome to this reviving breast, 
And these rejoicing eyes. 

The King Himself comes near, 

And feasts His saints to-day ; 
Here we may sit and see Him here, 

And love, and praise, and pray. 

One day amidst the place 

Where my dear Grod hath been, 
Is sweeter than ten thousand days 

Of pleasurable sin. 

9th Morning. L. M. Federal Street. Hamburg. 

GREAT G-od, attend while Zion sings 
The joy that from Thy presence springs ; 
To spend one day with Thee on earth 
Exceeds a thousand days of mirth. 

Might I enjoy the meanest place 
Within Thy house, God of grace, 
Not tents of ease, nor thrones of power, 
Should tempt my feet to leave Thy door. 



c 



10th Morning. L. M. Rolland. Duhe Street. 

IOME, dearest Lord, descend and dwell 
By faith and love in every breast ; 
Then shall we know, and taste, and feel 
The joys that cannot be expressed. 

Come, fill our hearts with inward strength, 

Make our enlarged souls possess, 
And learn the height, and breadth, and length, 

Of Thine immeasurable grace. 

Now to the Grod whose power can do 

More than our thoughts or wishes know, 

Be everlasting honors done, 

By all the Church, through Christ His Son. 



898 HYMNS FOR THE LORD'S DAY. 

11th Morning. C. M. Naomi. Wirih. 

AS pants the hart for cooling streams, 
When heated in the chase, 
So longs my soul, O God, for Thee, 
And Thy refreshing grace. 

For Thee, my God — the living God, 

My thirsty soul doth pine ; 
0, when shall I behold thy face, 

Thou Majesty divine ! 

12th Morning. 7's. Nuremberg/, Hcmdon* 

CHRIST the Lord is risen to-day, 
Sons of men and angels say : 
Raise your joys and triumphs high; 
Sing, ye heavens, and, earth, reply. 

Love's redeeming work is done, 
Fought the fight, the battle won ; 
Lo, our sun's eclipse is o'er; 
Lo, he sets in blood no more. 

Vain the stone, the watch, the seal ; 
Christ hath burst the gates of hell ; 
Death in vain forbids His rise ; 
Christ hath opened paradise ! 



Y 



13th Morning. C. M. Woodland. Selena. 

ES, it is good to worship Thee, 
To tread Thy courts, O Lord, 
To raise the voice, to bend the knee, 
To hear Thy holy Word. 

How sweet, God, to sing Thy praise, 

Till all our spirits glow, 
And we could almost seem to raise 

The notes of heaven below. 

But 0, if songs like ours be sweet, 

How sweet that song must be 
When all the ransomed ones shall meet, 

From sin and sorrow free, 



M 



HYMNS FOR THE LORD'S DAY. 399 

14th Morning. L. M. Rolland. Uxbridge. 

HOW pleasant, how divinely fair, 
O Lord of hosts, Thy dwellings are ! 
With long desire my spirit faints 
To meet th' assemblies of Thy saints. 

My flesh would rest in Thine abode, 
My panting heart cries out for God ; 
My God, my King, why should I be 
So far from all my joys and Thee ? 

15th Morning. L. M. Hebron. Gratitude. 

Y God, how excellent Thy grace, 
Whence all our hope and comfort springs ; 
The sons of Adam in distress, 
Fly to the shadow of Thy wings. 

From the provisions of Thy house 
We shall be fed with sweet repast ; 

There mercy, like a river flows, 
And brings salvation to our taste. 

16th Morning. L. M. Federal Street. Zephyr, 

SACRED day of peace and joy, 
Thy hours are ever dear to me ; 
Ne'er may a sinful thought destroy 
The holy calm I find in Thee. 

Dear are Thy peaceful hours to me, 
For God has given them in his love, 

To tell how calm, how blest shall be 
The endless rest of heaven above. 

17th Morning. C. M. Dedham. Caddo. 

GLORY to God ! who deigns to bless 
This consecrated day, 
Unfolds His wondrous promises, 
And makes it sweet to pray. 

Glory to God ! who deigns to hear 

The humblest sigh we raise, 
And answers every heartfelt prayer, 

And hears our hymn of praise. 



o 



400 HYMNS FOR THE LORD'S DAY. 

18th Morning. 7's. Hemdon. PleyeVs Hymn. 

WHILE this day Thy praise is sung, 
Touch my lips, unloose my tongue, 
That my joyful soul may bless 
Thee, the Lord, my righteousness. 

While Thy ministers proclaim 
Peace and pardon in Thy name, 
Through their voice, by faith, may I, 
Hear Thee speaking from the sky. 

From Thy house when I return, 
May my heart within me burn ; 
And at evening let me say — 
I have walked with God to-day. 



H 



19th Morning. C. M. Coronation. Brown. 

OW did my heart rejoice to hear 
My friends devoutly say, 
"In Zion let us all appear, 
And keep the solemn day ! " 

I love her gates, I love the road ; 

The Church, adorned with grace, 
Stands like a palace built for God, 

To show His milder face. 

My soul shall pray for Zion still 

While life or breath remains ; 
There my best friends, my kindred dwell, 

There God my Saviour reigns. 

20th Morning. L. M. Duke Street. Rolland. 

JESUS shall reign where'er the sun 
Does his successive journeys run ; 
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore, 
Till moons shall wax and wane no more. 

For Him shall endless prayer be made, 
And praises throng to crown His head ; 
His name, like sweet perfume, shall rise 
With every morning sacrifice. 



401 



N 



2 1st Morning. C. M. Balerma. Brown. 

^TOW from the altar of our hearts 
Let flames of incense rise ; 
Assist us, Lord, to offer up 
Our Sabbath sacrifice. 

Each solemn day of sacred rest 

Doth a new song require ; 
Teach us the sonnets of the blest, 

Our hearts like theirs inspire. 

Awake our love, awake our joy, 

With music loud and long ; 
Let praise the Sabbath hours employ 

From morn to even song. 

22d Morning. C. M. Dedham. Lanesboro'. 

EARLY, my Glod, without delay, 
I haste to seek Thy face ; 
My thirsty spirit faints away 
Without Thy cheering grace. 

I've seen Thy glory and Thy power 

Through all Thy temple shine ; 
My Grod, repeat that heavenly hour, 

That vision so divine. 

Not all the blessings of a feast 

Can please my soul so well, 
As when Thy richer grace I taste, 

And in Thy presence dwell. 

23d Morning. C. M. Woodland. Peterboro*, 

THIS is the day the Lord hath made, 
He calls the hours his own ; 
Let heaven rejoice, let earth be glad, 
And praise surround the throne. 

To-day He rose and left the dead, 

And Satan's empire fell ; 
To-day the saints His triumphs spread, 

And all his wonders tell. 



402 HYMNS FOR THE LORD'S DAY. 



24th Morning. C. M. Byefield. Dedham. 

|N this glad day a brighter scene 
Of glory was displayed, 
By the Eternal Word, than when 
The heavens and earth were made. 



o 



He rises who His Church has bought 

With grief and pain extreme : 
'Twas great to speak the world from nought ; 

But greater to redeem. 



25th Morning. L. M. Uxhridge. Federal St. Holland. 

SWEET is the work, my God, my King, 
To praise Thy name, give thanks, and sing ; 
To show Thy love by morning light, 
And talk of all Thy truth by night. 

Sweet is the day of sacred rest, 
No mortal cares shall seize my breast : 
O may my heart in tune be found, 
Like David's harp of solemn sound ! 



S' 



26th Morning. 8, 7, 4. Greenville. Ncttleton. 

WEET as home to pilgrims weary — 
Light to newly-opened eyes — 
Flowing springs in deserts dreary — 
Is the rest the Cross supplies. 
All who taste it 
Shall to rest immortal rise. 

But to sing the rest of glory, 

Mortal tongues far short must fall ; 
Tongues celestial strive to reach it, 
But it soars beyond them all. 

Faith believes it, hope expects it, 
But it overwhelms them all. 



HYMNS FOR THE LORD'S DAT. 403 

27th Morning. 7's. Easter Hymn. 

JESUS CHRIST is risen to-day, Hallelujah ! 
Our triumphant, holy day ; Hallelujah ! 
Who did once upon the cross, Hallelujah ! 
Suffer to retrieve our loss, Hallelujah ! 

Hymns of praise then let us sing, Hallelujah ! 
Unto Christ, our heavenly King, Hallelujah ! 
Who endured the cross and grave, Hallelujah ! 
Sinners to redeem and save, Hallelujah ! 

By the pains which He endured, Hallelujah ! 
Our salvation was procured : Hallelujah ! 
Now above the sky He's King, Hallelujah! 
Where the angels ever sing, Hallelujah! 



INDEX. 



GENESIS. 




JOSHUA. 




2 CHRONICLES. 


Chap. & Verse 


Page 


Chap. & Verse 


Page 


Chap. & Verse 




Page 


i. 4 ... 


5 


ii. 21 . . . 


109 


xxv. 9 


, 


335 


i. 5 . 




153 


v. 12 . . . 


1 








iv. 2 . 




20 






EZRA. 




vii. 16 




157 


JUDGES. 




vii. 22 . 




348 


xxi. 6 . 




167 


vii. 20 . . 


264 


viii. 22 . 




268 


xxiv. 63 




. 228 


xvi. 6 . . 


. 190 








XXV. 11 




48 






NEHEMIAH. 




xxxix. 12 




207 


RUTH. 










xli. 4 . 




185 


i. 14 . . . 


350 


ix. 38 


• • 


115 


xlix. 24 




53 


ii. 2 ... 


214 


JOB 






EXODUS. 




1 SAMUEL, 




viii. 11 




. . 


363 


viii. 28 
xiv. 13 
xvi. 21 
xx. 25 




179 
206 
198 
196 


vii. 12 . . 
xiii. 20 . . 
xxvii. 1 . . 


365 

62 
291 


x. 2 . 
xix. 25 
xxix. 2 
xl. 4 . 




• • 


49 
112 
224 
158 


xxv. 6 

xxviii. 38 




241 

8 


2 SAMUEL 

v. 23 . . . 


40 


PSALB! 

iv. 2 . . 


[S. 


98 


LEVITICUS 

vi. 13 . . 

xiii. 13 . . . 
xix. 16, 17 . 


197 
273 
334 


v. 24 . 
vii. 25 
ix. 13 
xv. 23 

xxiii. 1 






30 

15 

148 

152 

233 


ix. 1 . 
xii. 1 . 
xvii. 7 
xxii. 1 

xxii. 7 




■ • 


304 
169 
141 
106 
105 


NUMBERS. 




xxiii. 5 






356 


xxii. 14 




. 


102 










xxii. 14 




t 


103 


ii. 31 . . . . 


200 


1 KINGS. 




xxvii. 14 




, 


243 


xi. 11 . . . . 


281 


xix. 8 . . . 


279 


xxix. 2 






229 


xiv. 2 . . . . 


121 


xxii. 48 . . . 


13 


xxx. 5 






134 


xiv. 11 . . . 


240 






xxx. 6 






70 






2 RINGS. 




xxxiii. 13 




272 


DEUTERON02 


IT. 


vii. 3 . . . . 


73 


xxxiii. 21 


# 


184 


v. 24 . . . . 


201 


xxv. 30 . . . 


45 


xxxvii. 4 


. 


166 


xxxii. 9 . . ; 


320 






xxx viii. 21 . 


m 


146 


xxxiii. 27 . . 


315 


1 CHRONICLE 


M. 


xxxix. 12 


. 


76 


xxxiii. 27 . . 


316 


iv. 23 . . . 


155 


xiv. 2 . . 




173 


xxxiii. 29 . . 


271 


v. 22 . . . . 


160 


xiv. 7 


. 


150 
















(' 


105) 







406 



INDEX. 



Chap. & Verse 

li. 1 . . 
li. 10 . . 
lii. 8 . . 
lv. 22 . . 
lxii. 5 . . 
lxv. 11 . 
lxvi. 2 . 
lxvi. 20 . 
lxvii. 6 . 
lxxiii. 22 . 
lxxiii. 23 . 
lxxiii. 24 . 
lxxiv. 17 . 
lxxxiv. 6 . 
lxxxiv. 7 . 
lxxxix. 19 
xci. 3 
xci. 9 
xcii. 4 
xcvii. 1 . 
xcvii. 10 . 
ciii. 2 
civ. 16 . 
civ. 16 . 
cvii. 7 
cxi. 9 . . 
cxii. 7 
cxix. 15 . 
cxix. 49 . 
cxx. 5 
cxxvi. 3 . 
cxxxviii. 5 
cxxxviii. 8 
cxlix. 2 . 



Page 
242 
305 
230 
147 
59 
292 
274 
145 
118 
210 
211 
245 
336 
257 
349 
23 
24 
58 
227 
225 
159 
191 
226 
298 
143 
239 
259 
286 
119 
249 
161 
32 
144 
266 



PROVERBS. 

i. 33 . . . . 188 

xi. 25 . . . . 234 

xvi. 33 ... 354 

ECCLESIASTES. 

vii. 8 .... 366 

ix. 10 . . . . 331 

x. 7 .... 140 



CANTICLES 

Chap. & Verse 

i. 4 . 

i. 7 . 

i. 13 . 

ii. 3 . 

ii. 8 . 

ii. 10 . 

ii. 15 . 

iii. 1 . 

iv. 7 . 

iv. 7 . 

iv. 12 . 

iv. 16 . 

v. 8 . 

v. 13 . 

v. 16 . 
vii. 13 



ISAIAH. 



CANTICLES. 



i. 2 



92 



vii. 14 
xiv. 10 . 
xxi. 11 
xxx. 18 . 
xxxiii. 21 
xxxvii. 22 
xl. 9 . 
xli. 10 
xli. 14 
xliv. 3 
xlviii. 10 
xlix. 8 
xlix. 16 
li. 5 . 
liii. 5 . 
liii. 12 
liv. 5 . 
liv. 17 
lix. 5 . 
lxiii. 1 
lxiii. 7 
lxv. 19 



JEREMIAH 



ii. 2 . 
iii. 14 . 
xiv. 20 
xvii. 17 
xxiii. 6 



220 
247 
104 
238 

80 
116 
151 

19 
337 
338 
323 

61 
235 
122 

69 
275 



360 

178 

219 

344 

329 

203 

177 

357 

16 

311 

63 

3 

312 

244 

91 

90 

170 

310 

221 

14 

25 

236 



352 
204 
125 
120 
31 



JEREMIAH. 



Chap. & Verse 


Page 


xxxi. 3 . 


. 60 


xxxi. 3 . 


. 355 


xxxi. 33 . 


9 


xxxii. 41 . 


. 265 


xxxiii. 3 . 


. 253 


li. 51 . . 


. . 231 



LAMENTATIONS. 

iii. 24 .... 321 
iii. 41 . . . . 285 
iii. 58 . . . . 325 



EZEKIEL. 
XV. 2 . . . . 

xxxiv. 26 . . 
xxxvi. 37 . . 



DANIEL. 



v. 27 
xi. 32 



HOSEA. 



iii. 1 . 
vii. 8 . 
xii. 12. 
xiv. 4 . 
xiv. 8 . 



ii. 13 



ix. 9 



i. 11 



ii. 9 
iv. 9 



JOEL. 



OBADIAH. 



MICAH. 



ii. 10 
ii. 13 
v. 4 



i. 2 



22 
55 
50 



164 
217 



35 
175 
327 
296 
252 



353 
172 

205 



57 

195 



38 
237 
232 



256 



INDEX. 



407 



HABAKKUK. 


LUKE. 




ROMANS. 




Chap. & Verse 


Page 


Chap. & Verse 


Page 


Chap. & Verse Page 


iii. 6 . . 


. . 347 


v. 4 . . . . 


282 


viii. 17 . . . 135 






viii. 13 . . . 


11 


viii. 28 . 




. 218 


ZEPHANIAH. 


xi. 27, 28 . . 


176 


viii. 30 




. 149 


i. 5 . . 


. . 319 


xiv. 10 . . 


358 


viii. 37 




. 114 






xxii. 44 . . , 


83 


xi. 26 . 




. 21 


HAGGAI. 


xxii. 48 . . 


85 


xi. 36 . 




. 322 


f. 9 . . 


. . 300 


xxiii. 26 . . 


96 


xiv. 8 . 




. 162 






xxiii. 27 . . 


100 




ZECHARTAH. 


xxiii. 31 . . , 


99 


1 CORINTHIANS. 


i. 8 . . 

iii. 1 . . 
vi. 13 . . 
xiv. 7 • • 
xiv. 8 . . 


. . 270 
. . 332 
. . 174 
. . 278 
. . 183 


xxiii. 33 . . 

JOHN. 

i. 16 . . . 
iii. 7 . . . 
iv. 14 . . . 


101 

27 

66 

280 


i. 2 . . 
i. 28 . . 
iii. 1 . 
iii. 23 . 
x. 12 . 
xi. 24 . . 




. 194 
. 342 
. 293 
. 12 
. 74 
. 117 


MAI 


ACHI. 

. . 289 


v. 13 . . . 
vi. 67 . . . 


129 

297 


xv. 20 . 
xv. 45 . 




. 131 
. . 362 


iii. 2 . . 


vii. 37 . . . 


367 


xv. 48 . 




. . 341 


iii. 6 . . 


. . 307 


x. 28 . . . 


168 








xiv. 21 . . 


133 


2 CORINTHIANS. 


MAT 


rHEW. 


xv. 4 . . . 


318 


i. 5 .... 43 


i. 21 . . 


. . 39 


xv. 19 . . . 


302 


iv. 18 . 






29 


iii. 7 . 


. . 56 


xvi. 32 . . 


81 


v. 14 . 






295 


v. 43 . 


. . 72 


xvi. 33 . . 


124 


v. 21 . 






95 


vi. 9 . 


. . 303 


xvii. 15 . . 


. 123 


vi. 16 . 






126 


vi. 26 . . 


. . 26 


xvii. 17 . . 


186 


vi. 17 . 






255 


vii. 7 . 


. . 340 


xvii. 22 . . 


182 


vii. 6 . 






51 


xi. 28 . 


. . 351 


xvii. 23 . . 


213 


vii. 10 . 






287 


xii. 15 . 


. . 128 


xviii. 8 . . 


. 86 


viii. 9 . 






359 


xxvi. 39 


. . 82 


xix. 16 . . 


94 


xii. 9 . 






64 


xxvi. 56 


. . 87 


xxi. 12 . . 


. 290 


xii. 9 . 






309 


xxvii. 14 


. . 93 










xx vii. 51 


. . 110 


ACTS. 




GALATIANS 




xxviii. 20 


. . 132 


ii. 4 ... 


. 171 


ii. 10 . . . . 


77 






iv. 13 . . . 


. 42 


ii. 20 . 






364 


Mj 


i.RK. 


v. 31 . . . 


. 113 


iii. 26 . 






78 


i. 30 . 


. . 246 


ix. 11 . . . 


. 308 


v. 1 . 






263 


i. 41 . 


. . 248 


xiii. 39 . . 


136 


v. 17 . 






154 


ii. 4 . 


. . 251 


xiv. 22 . . 


. 68 


v. 25 . 






262 


iii. 13 . 


. . 254 


xviii. 10 . . 


. 339 






iv. 36 . 


. . . 258 






EPHESIANS 




ix. 19 . 


. . 261 


ROMANS. 




i. 3 .... 


130 


xi. 22 . 


. . . 67 


i. 7 ... 


187 


i. 6 . 






267 


xiv. 72 


. . . 212 


iii. 26 . . . 


269 


i. 11 . 






215 






iv. 20 . . . 


. 79 


i. 14 . 






202 


IA 


7EE. 


vii. 13 . . 


71 


ii. 19 . 






192 


iv. 18 . 


. . . 330 


viii. 12 . . 


34 


iii. 19 . 






88 



408 



INDEX. 



EPHESIANS 




1 TIMOTHY. 




2 PETEfc. 




Chap. & Verse 


Page 


Chap. & Verse 


Page 


Chap. & Verse 


Page 


iv. 15 . . . 


. 294 


vi. 17 . . . . 


137 


i. 4 ... 


209 


iv. 30 . . . 


. 326 






i. 4 ... 


260 


vi. 18 . . . 


. 37 


2 TIMOTHY. 




i. 5, 6 . . . 


208 






ii. 1 .... 


75 


iii. 18 . . . 


4 


PHLLTPPIANS. 


ii. 11 . . . . 


301 


iii. 18 . . . 


46 


i. 21 . . . 


7 


iv. 8 . . . . 


10 






ii. 15 . . . 


. 250 






1 JOHN. 


• 


iii. 8 . . . 


288 


PHILEMON. 




i. 6 ... 


328 


iv. 11 . . . 


47 


verse 2 . . . 


306 


ii. 6 ... 


138 


iv. 12 . . . 


41 






iii. 1, 2 . . 


44 






HEHRE'WS. 




iv. 13 . . . . 


127 


COLOSSIANS 


I. 






iv. 14 . . . . 


36 


i. 5 ... 


276 


i. 14 . 


. . . 


277 


iv. 19 . . . . 


163 


i. 28 . . . 


28 


ii. 14 . 




. . 


111 






ii. 6 ... 


313 


iv. 9 . 




. . 


18 


2 JOHN. 




ii. 6 ... 


314 


v. 7 . 




• • 


84 


verse 2 . . . 


299 


ii. 9, 10 . . 


139 


v. 8 . 




• • 


89 






iii. 4 . . . 


223 


ix. 22 . 




. . 


33 


3 JOHN. 




iv. 2 . . . . 


2 


xii. 2«. 
xii. 24 . 




• • 


180 
108 


verse 3 . . . 


833 


1 THESSALONI 


VNS. 


xiii. 5 . 






52 


JUDE. 




i. 4 .... 

iv. 14 . . . . 


199 

181 


xiii. 5 . 
xiii. 13 




. . 


54 

97 


verse 1 . . . 
" 24 . . . 


194 

283 


iv. 17 . . . . 


345 






(( IX 


284 


v. 6 .... 


65 


1 PETER. 








v. 24 . . . . 


346 


i. 2 .... 


194 


BEVELATION 




v. 25 . . . . 


189 


i. 7 . . 




. 


817 


iii. 4 . . . . 


343 






i. 19 . , 




. 


107 


xiv. 1 . . . . 


17 


TITUS. 




ii. 3 . . 




. 


142 


xxi. 23 . . . 


216 


iii. 4 ... . 


156 


v. 7 . . 




. 


6 


xxi. 23 . . . 


222 


iii. 9 ... . 


324 


v. 10 . . 




. 


193 


xxii. 17 . . . 


165 



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